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Starship Flight 9 Test Scheduled for Today
This test will reuse a booster for the first time. Given the problems with the Starship in tests 7 and 8, this is an important trial. It’s scheduled for 6:30-8:30 pm Central. Here are some details about previous tests:
- April 20, 2023 – 3 of the booster engines did not start, damaged launch pad, was destroyed about four minutes into flight.
- November 18, 2023 – all 33 engines worked on the booster. It was destroyed during the boost back burn. The Starship engines fired. Cutoff was unsuccessful and it was destroyed.
- March 14, 2024 – booster was a success until about 500 meters from landing in the Gulf. Starship went into suborbital path – burned up at about 40 miles.
- June 6, 2024 – booster landed in the water, Starship landed in the water.
- October 13, 2024 – first catch of booster – major achievement, Starship landed in the water.
- November 19, 2024 – booster landed in the water due to damage to launch tower. Starship landed in water.
- January 16, 2025 – 2nd catch of booster, Starship vs 2 had an issue and was destroyed.
- March 6, 2025 – similar results to 7 but SpaceX has said that the Starship issue was different.
The pace of launches is speeding up. Bob Zimmerman (the writer, not the musician) has said that the FAA under Biden was anti-SpaceX and slowed down the pace through bureaucratic means.
Here’s the catch of the booster in Test 5.
Published in Science and Technology
OK, fingers crossed. Thanks for the timeline update, Richard!
That rocket is massive. I cant wait to watch!
In Texas?
Yes. The pre-game show starts at 1pm. You can watch it live here.
Sure is. Here’s a comparison graph:
Hmm, I’m no rocket scientist, but there’s something not quite right about this one…
Well, I guess Spacex gave misinformation. They said they would broadcast live starting at 12:55pm. I guess it’s on when it’s on. https://www.spacex.com/launches/mission/?missionId=starship-flight-9
Does anyone know the trajectory with a time schedule? Im in New England and we finally have a clear day. I’ve never seen a launch.
There was a hiccup, they launched around 7PM. The motto could be, “We will fly no Starship before its time.”
ABC deleted this tweet after getting ridiculed for it.
Heh.
I have clearly not been using Grok to best effect.
You mean, you didn’t grok Grok?
I failed to discern that Randy Savage was the secret key to the knowledge of the universe. Live and learn.
I think Mean Gene had an idea about that.