SpaceX is pushing ahead with plans to launch its tenth Starship test flight before the end of the summer, according to company founder and CEO Elon Musk. If all proceeds as scheduled, the massive next-generation rocket could return to the skies in about three weeks, marking its fourth launch of the year.
Credit: SpaceX
Musk announced the projected timeline via X (formerly Twitter) on Monday, signaling SpaceX’s continued drive to make Starship the backbone of future interplanetary missions. With its two fully reusable stages — the Super Heavy booster and the Ship upper stage — Starship is the largest and most powerful rocket ever constructed, designed to revolutionize spaceflight by significantly lowering costs and increasing launch frequency.
However, the path to Flight 10 has not been smooth. The original Ship vehicle intended for this mission was lost during a ground-based engine test at the company’s Starbase facility in South Texas on June 18. The explosion occurred during a prelaunch trial known as a static fire test. An investigation traced the failure to a pressurized nitrogen tank located in the vehicle's nosecone. SpaceX has since swapped in a different Ship unit to replace the damaged one and is now preparing it for flight.
Starship’s recent flight record has been mixed. The upper stage was lost during its last three missions — Flights 7, 8, and 9 — which took place in January, March, and May, respectively. Despite the in-flight losses, SpaceX has continued to gather valuable data to refine its design and procedures.
The Super Heavy booster, meanwhile, has shown more promising results. During Flights 7 and 8, the massive first stage successfully returned to the launch site and was caught using the tower’s specialized “chopstick” arms — a key component of SpaceX’s innovative recovery strategy. Flight 9 marked a major milestone: the first re-flight of a Super Heavy booster, reusing the same unit from Flight 7. Although the booster was not caught and ultimately disintegrated over the Gulf of Mexico after initiating a landing burn, the reuse itself was a significant step toward routine booster turnaround.
Long term, SpaceX intends to recover both Starship stages using the chopstick system, aiming to establish a rapid and cost-effective launch cadence. This ambitious approach is central to the company’s vision of supporting missions to the Moon, Mars, and beyond.
With Flight 10 potentially just weeks away, the aerospace world is once again watching SpaceX's Starbase, as the company works to demonstrate not only the technical viability of Starship, but the reusability that will define its future.
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