SpaceX CEO Elon Must posted on X yesterday that he plans to give a talk explaining the game plan for Starbase and the company’s plans to go to Mars next week ahead of Starship’s 9th flight. This confirms that Starship is slated to fly next week! Up to this point, SpaceX has not officially listed a Starship launch date, only that final checks are in progress.
What Has Changed?
SpaceX had a successful six-engine static fire of Ship 35 a few days ago in Boca Chica at their testing facility. The ship was returned to the production site for final checkouts. Updated air advisories for the area surrounding Starbase are currently support launch opportunities from May 21st to May 30th.
Also worth noting, one of NASA’s imaging planes, which has been used in past Starship flights, has a placeholder for May 21-22. The plane resides at Johnson Space Center in Houston and has been used for high altitude imaging of past Starship launches.
What Still Needs to Happen?
SpaceX will need to return the Starship to the pad for stacking and installation of the flight termination system (FTS). The booster is currently on the launch mount. No road closures are currently posted.
The FAA still needs to grant a launch license for Flight 9. The FAA does not have a temporary flight restriction (TFR) issued yet for the launch attempt, and neither does Mexico. A notice was posted near Cuba for potential debris should the mission end in failure resulting in the vehicle breaking up, which was the case with the last two Starship test launches.
The flight termination system (FTS) will also need to be installed once the vehicle is stacked. That is a prerequisite for flight, and one of the last items to be completed before the vehicle is ready.
As in past missions, many of the final checkmarks are done just days before a launch attempt. Keep checking FMN for the latest updates.
