SpaceX is targeting as early as this evening, August 24, for the tenth orbital test flight of its massive Starship rocket from the company’s Starbase launch site in South Texas. The launch window is scheduled to open at 7:30 PM ET (6:30 PM CT), however, poor weather conditions may lead to a postponement. On Saturday, SpaceX noted that the forecast was only 45 percent favorable for launch, with backup opportunities available on August 25 and 26.
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This flight is a high-stakes mission for the ambitious spaceflight company. The attempt follows a challenging year for the Starship program, which saw a series of failures during its seventh, eighth, and ninth test flights. In a separate incident in June, a Starship vehicle exploded on the ground during preparations for a static fire test of its six Raptor engines, underscoring the immense difficulty of the vehicle’s development.
The primary objectives for Flight 10 are to deploy eight dummy Starlink satellites into orbit and to perform several key experiments. According to SpaceX, these experiments are focused on gathering data for maneuvers that will eventually enable Starship’s upper stage to return to the launch site for a soft landing and reuse.
While the long-term goal is a full and rapid reusability, this particular test flight will not attempt a return to the launch site. The mission is expected to last a little over an hour and is scheduled to conclude with the vehicle making a planned splashdown in the Indian Ocean.
SpaceX will livestream the entire flight test on its official website and on its X (formerly Twitter) account. The webcast is scheduled to begin approximately 30 minutes before the launch window opens.
