List of Starship flights

As of 2021, prototypes of the upper stage of SpaceX Starship have been flown 6 times.[lower-alpha 1][1][2][3][4][5][6] Designed and operated by private manufacturer SpaceX, the prototypes of Starship most notably include Starhopper, SN5, SN6, SN8, SN9, and SN10.[7][8]

SpaceX Starship SN8 prototype during a flight test, December 2020.

The Starship is planned to be a fully reusable super heavy-lift launch vehicle[9] and unusual for previous launch vehicle and spacecraft designs, the upper stage of Starship is intended to function both as a second stage to reach orbital velocity on launches from Earth, and also be used in outer space as an on-orbit long-duration spacecraft.[10]

In 2018, Elon Musk also planned to send some space tourists (including Yusaku Maezawa) in a lunar flyby in 2023, as part of the #dearMoon project. In 2019, SpaceX planned to launch commercial payloads using Starship no earlier than 2021.[11] In the same year, Space.com said that SpaceX may fly Starship to the Moon in 2022.[12]

Musk also plans to send cargo Starship missions to Mars in 2022, followed by a crewed Starship mission to Mars in 2024.[13]

As of January 2021, the Starships SN10-SN18,[14] Super Heavy Boosters BN1 and BN2,[14] and Test Tank SN7.2[15] are in production or testing. All flights have been launched at the Boca Chica launch site in Texas.[16]

Map of SpaceX launch site at Boca Chica

Flight statistics

Suborbital test flights
Flight No. Date and time of takeoff (UTC) Vehicle Launch site Suborbital apogee Outcome Duration
1 5 April 2019 Starhopper Boca Chica, Texas ~1 m (3 ft 3 in) Success[lower-roman 1] ~3 seconds
Tethered hop which hit tethered limits. With a single Raptor SN2 engine.[1]
2 25 July 2019[17] Starhopper Boca Chica, Texas 20 m (66 ft)[2] Success[2] ~22 seconds
First untethered flight test. Single Raptor engine, SN6. Was previously scheduled for the day before on 24 July 2019, but was aborted.[2][18]
3 27 August 2019 22:00[3][19] Starhopper Boca Chica, Texas 150 m (490 ft)[3] Success[3] ~58 seconds[20]
Single Raptor engine, SN6. Starhopper was retired after this launch, with some parts being reused for other tests.[3][21][18]
4 4 August 2020 23:57[22] Starship SN5 Boca Chica, Texas 150 m (490 ft)[22] Success[22][23] ~45 seconds
Single Raptor engine, SN27.[24][25] A successful 150-meter flight was completed on 4 August 2020.[4]
5 3 September 2020 17:47[26] Starship SN6[27] Boca Chica, Texas 150 m (490 ft)[28] Success[29] ~45 seconds
Single Raptor engine, SN29.[5] A successful test hop took place on 3 September 2020.[26]
6 9 December 2020[30] 22:45 Starship SN8[31] Boca Chica, Texas 12.5 km (7.8 mi)[32][33] Destroyed on landing[34] 6 minutes, 42 seconds
Three Raptor engines, SN30, SN36, and SN42.[35][36] The vehicle successfully launched, ascended, performed the skydive descent maneuver, relit the engines fueled by the header tanks, and steered to the landing pad.[34] Low pressure in the fuel header tank caused engine issues, resulting in a hard landing and destruction of SN8. However, Elon Musk stated that all the vital telemetry data was acquired from the flight.[37]
7 2 February 2021[38] 20:25 Starship SN9 Boca Chica, Texas 10 km (6.2 mi)[39][38] Destroyed on landing[40] 6 minutes, 26 seconds[40]
Three Raptor engines, including SN45 and SN49.[lower-roman 2][41][40][42][43][44] Test flight on 2 February 2021, during landing, one of the engines failed to ignite, resulting in a hard landing that destroyed SN9.[45][46]
8 NET February 2021[40][47][48] Starship SN10 Boca Chica, Texas high altitude Planned
SN10 was moved to the launch site to begin its preflight tests on 29 January 2021.[49]
  1. Here, success means that the vehicle landed with minimal damage.
  2. The other raptor SN is unknown

Future orbital flights
Date Vehicle Notes
2021 Starship As of October 2020, SpaceX expects first orbital flights in 2021.[50]
2022 Starship Potential flight to the Moon, according to journalist Mike Wall.[12]
NET 2023 Starship crew Plan for a flyby loop around the Moon. Known as #dearMoon project.[51]
2024 Starship cargo Potential cargo flights to Mars.[50]
2027 Starship crew Potential crewed flight to Mars.[50]

Other flights

The HLS variant of Starship was selected by NASA in April 2020 for potential use for long-duration crewed lunar landings as part of the Artemis program.

According to space journalist Mike Wall, Elon Musk is said to envision that eventually more than 1,000 Starships could be needed to depart for Mars every 26 months, which could lead to the development of a sustainable Martian city in 50–100 years.[52]

See also

Notes
  1. not including tethered, short hop of Starhopper

References
  1. Baylor, Michael (2 June 2019). "SpaceX readying Starhopper for hops in Texas as Pad 39A plans materialize in Florida". NASASpaceFlight.com. Retrieved 3 June 2019.
  2. Burghardt, Thomas (25 July 2019). "Starhopper successfully conducts debut Boca Chica Hop". NASASpaceFlight.com. Retrieved 26 July 2019.
  3. Baylor, Michael (27 August 2019). "SpaceX's Starhopper completes 150 meter test hop". NASASpaceFlight. Retrieved 27 August 2019.
  4. Clark, Stephen (5 August 2020). "SpaceX clears big hurdle on next-gen Starship rocket program". Spaceflight Now. Retrieved 5 August 2020.
  5. @NASASpaceflight (23 August 2020). "STATIC FIRE! Starship SN6 fires up Raptor SN29 at Boca Chica!" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  6. "Starship SN8 12.5-Kilometer hop". Retrieved 5 December 2020.
  7. "SpaceX Starship hardware mystery solved amid reports of Florida factory upheaval". 2 December 2019.
  8. Ralph, Eric (17 July 2020). "SpaceX scraps Florida Starship Mk2 prototype". TESLARATI. Retrieved 4 September 2020.
  9. "Starship". SpaceX. Archived from the original on 30 September 2019. Retrieved 30 September 2019.
  10. Elon Musk (28 September 2019). Starship Update (video). SpaceX. Event occurs at 1:45. Retrieved 30 September 2019 – via YouTube.
  11. Henry, Caleb (28 June 2019). "SpaceX targets 2021 commercial Starship launch". SpaceNews. Archived from the original on 23 July 2020. Retrieved 29 June 2019.
  12. Spaceflight, Mike Wall 2019-11-19T12:18:41Z. "SpaceX's Starship May Start Flying Moon Missions in 2022". space.com. Retrieved 19 November 2019.
  13. "SpaceX aims to launch the first Starship with cargo to Mars by 2022". Tesmanian. Retrieved 15 September 2020.
  14. "SN18". Twitter. Retrieved 18 December 2020.
  15. "Test Tank SN7.2". Twitter.
  16. Clark, Stephen. "After second hop, SpaceX preps for next phase of Starship testing – Spaceflight Now". Retrieved 30 November 2020.
  17. Berger, Eric (26 July 2019). "SpaceX's Starship prototype has taken flight for the first time". Ars Technica. Retrieved 26 July 2019.
  18. Ralph, Eric (27 August 2019). "SpaceX scrubs Starhopper's final Raptor-powered flight as Elon Musk talks finicky igniters". Teslarati. Retrieved 27 August 2019.
  19. "SpaceX Starhopper Rocket Prototype Aces Highest (and Final) Test Flight". space.com. Retrieved 29 August 2019.
  20. 150 Meter Starhopper Test. SpaceX. 27 August 2019. Retrieved 27 August 2019 – via YouTube.
  21. Mosher, Dave (7 August 2019). "SpaceX may cannibalize its first Mars rocket-ship prototype in Elon Musk's race to launch Starship". Business Insider. Retrieved 27 August 2019.
  22. Ralph, Eric (4 August 2020). "SpaceX Starship leaps towards Mars with picture-perfect hop debut". Teslarati. Retrieved 4 August 2020.
  23. @NASASpaceflight (4 August 2020). "LAUNCH! Starship SN5 has launched on a 150 meter test hop at SpaceX Boca Chica" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  24. Baylor, Michael (4 August 2020). "Starship SN5 conducts successful 150-meter flight test". NASASpaceflight. Retrieved 4 August 2020.
  25. @thesheetztweetz (30 July 2020). "SpaceX test fires its Starship prototype SN5" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  26. @NASASpaceflight (3 September 2020). "IGNITION! Starship SN6 Hop Test! Under the power of Raptor SN29, SN6 has completed a near-mirror test of SN5's hop! SUCCESS Again!" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  27. @elonmusk (8 August 2020). "[In regards to the future flight of SN5] Not sure yet, but hopefully. Will need leg and other repairs. Probably SN6 flies before SN5. We need to make flights simple and easy — many per day" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  28. "SN6 begins test campaign as future Starships hatch plans for SpaceX's next leap". nasaspaceflight.com. 16 August 2020.
  29. @elonmusk (3 September 2020). "Starship SN6 flew a similar hop to SN5, but it was a much smoother and faster operation" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  30. "NOTAM". Retrieved 5 December 2020.
  31. @elonmusk (12 September 2020). "SN8 Starship with flaps and nosecone should be done in about a week. Then static fire, checkouts, static fire, fly to 60,000 ft and back" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  32. @elonmusk (26 September 2020). "Nosecone and front flaps next week. SN9 next month. First flight is to 12.5 km or ~39,400 ft" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  33. Bergin, Chris (9 December 2020). "From hops to hopes - Starship SN8 advances test program into the next phase". NASASpaceFlight.com. Retrieved 8 February 2021.
  34. @elonmusk (9 December 2020). "Successful ascent, switchover to header tanks & precise flap control to landing point!" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  35. Bergin, Chris (18 October 2020). "Starship SN8 pressing to Static Fire and nosecone installation firsts". NASASpaceflight. Retrieved 18 October 2020.
  36. @elonmusk (14 October 2020). "Will be less roomy with 3 vacuum rocket engines added [Image of the bottom of SN8 with 3 raptors installed]" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  37. @elonmusk (9 December 2020). "Fuel header tank pressure was low during landing burn, causing touchdown velocity to be high & RUD, but we got all the data we needed! Congrats SpaceX team hell yeah!!" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  38. Cotton, Ethan. "Starship SN9: 10 kilometer flight". Everyday Astronaut. Retrieved 1 February 2021.
  39. What’s really going on with Elon Musk, the FAA, and Starship?, Eric Berger, Ars Technica, 29 January 2021, retrieved 30 January 2021.
  40. Starship SN9 High-Altitude Flight Test (YouTube). SpaceX. 2 February 2021.
  41. SpaceX (21 January 2021). "Starship SN9 High-Altitude Flight Test". flickr.com. Retrieved 4 February 2021. View of SN9 engine bay, showing Raptor SN45
  42. Baylor, Michael. "Starship SN9 History". nextspaceflight. Retrieved 27 January 2021.
  43. What’s holding up the next test of SpaceX’s Starship? Elon Musk blames the FAA., Washington Post, 28 January 2021, accessed 30 January 2021.
  44. Bergin, Chris (28 January 2021). "Starship SN9 fails to gain FAA green light for Friday attempt". NASA Space Flight. Retrieved 29 January 2021.
  45. @DJSnM (2 February 2021). "One of the engines never lit and there wasn't enough thrust to stop in time:" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  46. "Starship SN9 High-Altitude Flight Test". 2 February 2021. Archived from the original on 2 February 2021.
  47. Baylor, Michael. "Starship SN10 History". nextspaceflight. Retrieved 8 February 2021.
  48. Cotton, Ethan (8 February 2021). "When will SN10 launch? Live Updates". Everyday Astronaut. Retrieved 8 February 2021.
  49. Malik, Tariq (29 January 2021). "SpaceX has two Starship prototypes on the pad at the same time". Space.com. Retrieved 30 January 2021.
  50. "Elon Musk says SpaceX's 1st Starship trip to Mars could fly in 4 years". 16 October 2020.
  51. First Private Passenger on Lunar BFR Mission Press conference streamed live at YouTube by SpaceX 17 September 2018
  52. March 2020, Mike Wall 12. "SpaceX's Starship will soon be made of different stuff". space.com. Retrieved 5 June 2020.
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