List of SpaceX Starship flight tests

SpaceX was already constructing the first full-size Starship Mk1 and Mk2 upper-stage prototypes, at the SpaceX facilities in Boca Chica, Texas and Cocoa, Florida respectively.[11] Neither prototype flew: Mk1 was destroyed in November 2019 during a pressure stress test and Mk2's Florida facility was abandoned and deconstructed throughout 2020.[12][13] After the Mk prototypes, SpaceX began naming its new Starship upper-stage prototypes with the prefix "SN", short for "serial number".[14] No prototypes between SN1 and SN4 flew either—SN1 and SN3 collapsed during pressure stress tests, and SN4 exploded after its fifth engine firing.[15]

In June 2020, SpaceX started constructing a launch pad for orbit-capable Starship rockets.[16] The first flight-capable Starship SN5 was cylindrical as it had no flaps or nose cone: just one Raptor engine, fuel tanks, and a mass simulator. On 5 August 2020, SN5 performed a 150 m (500 ft) high flight and successfully landed on a nearby pad.[17] On 3 September 2020, the similar-looking Starship SN6 repeated the hop;[18] later that month, the Raptor Vacuum engine was fired in full duration at McGregor.[19]

SN8 was the first fully complete Starship upper-stage prototype. It underwent four preliminary static fire tests between October and November 2020.[15] On 9 December 2020, SN8 flew, slowly turning off its three engines one by one, and reached an altitude of 12.5 km (7.8 mi). After SN8 dove back to the ground, its engines were hampered by low methane header tank pressure during the landing attempt, which led to a hard impact with the landing pad.[20] Because SpaceX had violated its launch license and ignored warnings of worsening shock wave damage, the Federal Aviation Administration investigated the incident for two months.[21]

On 2 February 2021, Starship SN9 launched to 10 km (6.2 mi) in a flight path similar to SN8. The prototype crashed upon landing because one engine did not ignite properly.[22] A month later, on 3 March, Starship SN10 launched on the same flight path as SN8 and 9. The vehicle landed hard and crushed its landing legs, leaning to one side.[23] A fire was seen at the vehicle's base. It exploded less than ten minutes later,[24] probably due to a propellant tank rupture.[23] On 30 March, Starship SN11 flew into thick fog along the same flight path.[25] The vehicle exploded during descent,[25] possibly due to excess propellant in a Raptor's methane turbopump.[26]

In March 2021, the company disclosed a public construction plan for two sub-orbital launch pads, two orbital launch pads, two landing pads, two test stands, and a large propellant tank farm. The company soon proposed developing the surrounding Boca Chica village into a company town named Starbase;[27] locals raised concerns about SpaceX's authority, power, and a potential threat for eviction through eminent domain.[28] In early April, the orbital launch pad's fuel storage tanks began mounting.[16] Starship prototypes SN12, SN13, and SN14 were scrapped before completion; SN15 was selected to fly instead.[29] SN15 had better avionics, structure, and upgraded engines.[24] On 5 May 2021, SN15 launched, completed the same maneuvers as older prototypes, and landed safely.[29] Even though SN15, like SN10, had a small fire in the engine area after landing, it was extinguished, completing the first successful high-altitude test.[24] According to a later report by SpaceX, SN15 experienced several issues while landing, including the loss of tank pressure and an engine.[30]^: 2

On April 20, 2023, a prototype of SpaceX Starship was launched on its first orbital test flight. The vehicle exploded without reaching orbit less than four minutes after liftoff from the SpaceX Starbase in Boca Chica, Texas.[31] The vehicle became the tallest and most powerful rocket ever flown, with twice the thrust of the Saturn V super heavy-lift launch vehicle developed in the 1960s for the NASA Apollo program.[32][33]

The launch was part of SpaceX's Starship development program, which follows an iterative and incremental approach involving frequent—and often destructive—test flights of prototype vehicles.[34] Before the launch, SpaceX officials said they would measure the mission's success "by how much we can learn" and that various planned mission events "are not required for a successful test".[35] The flight was generally regarded as having furthered Starship's development, and a variety of public officials congratulated SpaceX, including NASA administrator Bill Nelson and European Space Agency Director General Josef Aschbacher.[36][37]

It was planned for the Starship spacecraft to complete nearly one orbit around the Earth before reentering the atmosphere, performing a controlled landing and splashing down in the Pacific Ocean near Hawaii.[38] The Super Heavy booster was to have performed a similar landing in the Gulf of Mexico, about 20 mi (30 km) off the Texas coast approximately 8 minutes after liftoff.[38]

The rocket lifted off at at 08:33 CDT (13:33 UTC) from SpaceX's private launch site, Boca Chica, Texas, causing damage to the launch pad[39] and its surrounding infrastructure,[40] which SpaceX said was unexpected,[41] and some debris spread into Boca Chica State Park. Three engines did not start or aborted before liftoff, and several others failed during the flight.[42] The vehicle passed max q and entered supersonic flight, but, due to a lack of thrust or thrust vector control, no attempt was made at stage separation.[42] Starship tumbled and the autonomous flight termination system (AFTS) was activated but did not destroy the vehicle, which exploded 40 seconds later, nearly 4 minutes into the flight.[43][42]

After the test, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) grounded the launch program pending results of a standard “mishap investigation” overseen by the agency and performed by SpaceX.[44] The FAA said that a return to flight would depend on the agency's determination that future launches would not affect public safety.[45] Researchers are assessing potential health and environmental impacts of the launch, which scattered dust and particulate matter beyond the expected debris field.[44]