SpaceX Is Gearing Up for Starship’s Next Flight After a String of Explosive Setbacks

SpaceX is prepping the Starship rocket for its upcoming test flight, expected to take place in early August. The rocket’s last few launches did not go smoothly, leaving SpaceX in a bit of a slump as it rushes to develop a fully reusable Starship. The company desperately needs a win ahead of its planned uncrewed Mars launch in 2026, or at least for the rocket not to end up as burnt scraps at the bottom of the ocean.

This week, SpaceX transported Starship to its launch site in Starbase, Texas, for preflight preparations, the company revealed on X. The move suggests Starship is inching toward its 10th test flight, which could take place during the first week of August. Following recent setbacks, the upcoming Starship launch is crucial for the rocket’s success as a key part of NASA’s Artemis Moon program and SpaceX’s plans to send a human mission to Mars by 2029.

Starship’s most recent test flight in May suffered a bunch of failures. Although the rocket reached its planned velocity, a propellant leak led to loss of control, and the vehicle broke apart during reentry after failing to achieve its mission objectives. Earlier in March, flight 8 was cut short by a hardware failure in one of its Raptor engines, which sent the vehicle into a tumble. Before that, Starship met a similar fate during its seventh test flight in January when its upper stage exploded due to unexpected vibrations in the propulsion system around eight and a half minutes after launch.

A lot is riding on Starship’s upcoming flight, but the project has already faced a major setback ahead of static fire tests. The rocket’s 171-foot-tall (52-meter) upper stage, originally slated for the 10th test flight, exploded on a test stand at SpaceX’s Massey facility near Starbase on June 18. The explosion was likely due to a failure of a pressurized nitrogen tank in the rocket’s payload bay, which SpaceX founder and CEO Elon Musk brushed off as “Just a scratch.”

SpaceX is known for setting unrealistic timelines and allowing room for error during the development phase of its rockets, and Starship is no different. But by flight 10, hopefully the rocket will at least return to Earth in one piece and end its lousy streak.