How to watch SpaceX's ninth Starship flight test on Tuesday

The FAA last week cleared SpaceX's Starship to fly again after concluding its review of the previous flight, which ended in an explosion, and the next test could now take off as soon as Tuesday. SpaceX is eyeing May 27 for Starship's ninth flight test, with a launch window opening at 7:30PM ET (6:30PM local time for the Texas Starbase). This launch will mark the first time SpaceX reuses a Super Heavy booster; the booster for flight nine previously flew with Starship's seventh flight test earlier this year. While single-use parts have been replaced, SpaceX says it's reusing 29 of the booster's 33 Raptor engines.

As always, viewers at home will be able to watch along by tuning into the livestream, starting about 30 minutes before Starship launches. That will be available on SpaceX's website and in a broadcast on its X profile.

Watch Starship's ninth flight test → https://t.co/Gufroc2kUz https://t.co/NYF0ZMyeGp

— SpaceX (@SpaceX) May 23, 2025

SpaceX conducted Starship's eighth flight test back in March, but the vehicle ran into some issues a few minutes after launch. The Super Heavy booster was able to return to the launch site after separation from the upper stage and be successfully caught by the tower's "chopstick" arms, but as for the ship itself, several Raptor engines shut off, causing it to tumble and ultimately blow itself up. 

SpaceX says the issue was likely due to "a hardware failure in one of the upper stage’s center Raptor engines that resulted in inadvertent propellant mixing and ignition." It's since made some changes to prevent that from happening again. SpaceX said in an update on May 22 that "engines on the Starship’s upper stage will receive additional preload on key joints, a new nitrogen purge system, and improvements to the propellant drain system." 

For flight nine, the Super Heavy booster won't return to the launch site, but will instead splash down in the ocean. The Starship upper stage will attempt to deploy eight Starlink dummy satellites, and SpaceX is otherwise looking to this flight to test "several experiments focused on enabling Starship’s upper stage to return to the launch site."

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/science/space/how-to-watch-spacexs-ninth-starship-flight-test-on-tuesday-213424312.html?src=rss https://www.engadget.com/science/space/how-to-watch-spacexs-ninth-starship-flight-test-on-tuesday-213424312.html?src=rss
Creato 3d | 25 mag 2025, 21:40:10


Accedi per aggiungere un commento

Altri post in questo gruppo

Roll7's OlliOlli World and Rollerdrome are back on Steam

Their creators might be gone, but

28 mag 2025, 21:30:17 | Engadget
A Death Stranding anime is in the works

How much Death Stranding are you willing to fire into your eyes? The game’s sequel arrives in just a few weeks, A Quiet Place: Day One director Michael Sarnoski is leading up a li

28 mag 2025, 19:20:10 | Engadget
The Cyberpunk 2077 sequel finally makes it to preproduction

Once Cyberpunk 2077 worked out its oh-so-many kinks

28 mag 2025, 19:20:09 | Engadget
Microsoft launches Copilot for Gaming in mobile beta

Microsoft will begin testing its Copilot for Gaming app in a beta vers

28 mag 2025, 19:20:07 | Engadget