Musk's SpaceX To Launch Starship Flight Test Tuesday — When To Watch
A US national flag blows in the wind as workers prepare the SpaceX Starship rocket as it stands on ... More the launchpad at SpaceX Starbase in Boca Chica, Texas on April 18, 2023. (Photo by PATRICK T. FALLON/AFP via Getty Images)
SpaceX will launch its ninth flight test of the Starship vehicle and Super Heavy booster on Tuesday, May 27, 2025, aiming to avoid the catastrophic explosions that have plagued recent attempts.
The launch from SpaceX's Starbase in Boca Chica, Texas, comes as CEO and chief engineer Elon Musk scheduled to a livestream X/Twitter on May 27 called 'The Road To Making Life Multplanetary.'
The launch window for SpaceX's Starship Flight 9 test mission will open at 7:30 p.m. EDT on Tuesday, March 27; however, the launch is not expected to occur at that exact time. It's wise to expect delays if previous test flights are anything to go by. 'As is the case with all developmental testing, the schedule is dynamic and likely to change, so be sure to stay tuned to our X account for updates,' said SpaceX in an email.
According to Space.com, local officials around SpaceX's Starbase have announced road closures for the area through Thursday, May 29, suggesting a two-day launch window is possible. The launch will be streamed live on SpaceX.com, YouTube, and X (Twitter).
A two-part launch vehicle, Starship is designed to carry 100 tons to Mars or transport up to 100 people on long-duration, interplanetary flights, according to SpaceX. The vehicle could also be used for point-to-point flights, reducing times for most international trips to just 30 minutes.
Technically speaking, Starship refers to the upper part of the rocket, where cargo — such as satellites or humans — would be carried, with the section underneath called the Super Heavy booster. When stacked on the launch pad, the entire vehicle stands around 403 feet (123 meters) tall. Super Heavy is designed to be fully reusable and has already been caught in 'chopsticks' three times since the first successful test on October 13, 2024. Starship is also designed to land, though that has not been tested yet.
Starship's eighth flight test launched on March 6, 2025. After engine problems, it ended in 'rapid unscheduled disassembly,' after which debris was seen from Florida to the Caribbean. According to SpaceX, approximately five and a half minutes into its ascent burn, a flash occurred in one of the engines, resulting in an 'energetic event' that led to the loss of the engine. The vehicle was lost nine and a half minutes into the flight. That followed a similar ending on January 17, when Starship broke up close to Haiti. Starship was also tested twice in 2023 and four times in 2024.
The SpaceX Starship lifts off from Starbase near Boca Chica, Texas, on October 13, 2024, for the ... More Starship Flight 5 test. SpaceX successfully "caught" the first-stage booster of its Starship megarocket Sunday as it returned to the launch pad after a test flight, a world first in the company's quest for rapid reusability. (Photo by SERGIO FLORES / AFP) (Photo by SERGIO FLORES/AFP via Getty Images)
Starship Flight 9 will feature engineers utilizing a previously flown Super Heavy booster — the first stage of the Starship vehicle — which was first used during Starship Flight 7. SpaceX will attempt to catch it as it returns to the launch pad using giant chopsticks, which would be its fourth successful catch.
The Federal Aviation Administration recently announced that it was increasing the permitted launches per year for Starship from five to 25. It could mean a rapid uptick in Starship testing as preparation continues for its use by NASA for its Artemis III mission, which aims to land two astronauts on the moon in 2027, as well as a possible private mission to Mars.
'Starship is designed to fundamentally change and enhance humanity's ability to reach space,' according to a SpaceX email about launch times for Starship. 'This step change in capability won't happen overnight, and progress towards that goal won't always come in leaps. But by putting hardware into a real-world environment as frequently as possible, while still maximizing controls for public safety, progress can be made to achieve the goal of flying a reliable, fully and rapidly reusable rocket.'
Wishing you clear skies and wide eyes.
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