r/spacex • u/rSpaceXHosting Host Team • Apr 22 '26

🔧 Technical Starship Development Thread #63

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Starship Dev 62

Flight 13

Launched on July 24th 2026 Here is a re-streamed video of the broadcast. Also, SpaceX issued a post flight summary. Ship 40 (S40) became the first Starship to be recovered intact after a soft splashdown in the Indian Ocean. The vehicle arrived back at the Port of Brownsville on October 7, 2026.

Flight 14

Launched on September 28th 2026 (https://www.spacex.com/launches/starship-flight-14) - The vehicles were S41 and B21. This mission achieved the program's first successful orbital insertion, deploying 26 Starlink V3 satellites. An engine issue on the ship led to a controlled early splashdown in the Pacific rather than a fully nominal end-of-mission profile; Super Heavy completed hot-staging. SpaceX released post-flight imagery and hot-staging views on October 2, 2026. In comments from Elon Musk during a live Q&A around October 10, 2026, the ship engine issue was described as a software glitch affecting one engine's onboard computer, with the heat shield reported to have performed well / been "extremely robust." SpaceX's October 20, 2026 Q3 highlights described Flight 14 as the company's first revenue-generating Starship mission, delivering 26 Starlink V3 satellites, roughly 10x the downlink capacity added by a Falcon 9 Starlink launch.

Flight 15

NET November 8th 2026 - https://x.com/SpaceNotices/status/2108209933447512191 - expecting the first Starship upper stage catch attempt. Vehicles planned: S42 and B22, from Starbase Pad 2. Date is provisional and depends on testing progress and licensing. On the October 20, 2026 earnings webcast, Musk said Flight 15 is targeted for November with an attempt to catch both the Super Heavy booster and the Ship using the tower arms, calling success "more likely than not" and noting it would be the first full recovery of an orbital launch vehicle if achieved. As of October 27, 2026 the FAA license had not yet been issued. First round of static fires completed for both Ship & Booster.

Flight 16

A December 10, 2026 planning window has been cited for Flight 16. Potentially Starship's Florida debut

Road Closures

No road closures currently scheduled

No transportation delays currently scheduled

Up to date as of 2026-05-23

Vehicle Status

As of October 27th 2026

Ship Location Status Comment
S40 Starbase production site Post-flight inspection July 24th: Successful launch, deployed all satellites, successful engine relight test and soft splashdown in the Indian Ocean, which resulted in an intact, floating ship. August 25th: Loaded onto Heavy Lift Vessel 'Forte'. Oct 7: Successful return to Texas aboard 'Forte'. Oct 8-9: Began movement toward the Starbase production site. Oct 13: Now vertical in a Mega Bay at Starbase alongside three other Ships, where it will provide first-of-its-kind data on a flown heat shield, Raptor engines, avionics and related systems. For more details on this vehicle and its assembly and testing see this page
S41 Indian Ocean Successfully flown on flight 14 July 3rd: Rolled back to Massey's Test Site. July 6th: Rolled back to MB2. July 23rd: Two RVac engines moved into MB2. July 27th: The third RVac was moved into MB2. August 19th: Rolled out to Massey's for Static Fire Testing. Later that day S41 performed a single engine Static Fire. August 20th: Full duration Static Fire of all six engines. August 22nd: Rolled back to MB2. September 22nd: Rolled out to the Launch Site and stacked on B21. September 24th: Wet Dress Rehearsal. Sept 28: Reached orbit, deployed satellites, and successfully performed a soft splashdown in the Indian Ocean. For more details on this vehicle see this page
S42 Mega Bay 2 Pre-flight work for Flight 15 July 24th: Completed the stacking part of the assembly process. September 2nd: Rolled out to Massey's Test Site for Cryo Testing. September 5th: Rolled back to MB2. September 9th: Rolled back out to Massey's for Cryo Testing Round 2. September 10th: Rolled back to MB2, and later in the day moved to the Launch Site for catch-related testing. September 13th: Rolled back to MB2. September 21st: Two RVacs moved into MB2. September 24th: Third RVac moved into MB2. Oct 5: Catch-hardware verification complete. Early October: Short trip to Massey's for cryogenic proof testing, returned to MB2 within about 30 hours; engines removed for additional cold-fuel/pressure testing. Oct 9: Additional cryogenic proof testing at Massey's, then returned to MB2. Oct 10-12: Engines being prepared for reinstallation as part of the continuing test campaign; a further cryogenic proof test (reported as a third run) was carried out at Massey's, linked by tracking accounts to prior vacuum Raptor issues on recent flights. Oct 26: Single-engine static fire completed. Expected to be the first ship to attempt a tower catch recovery. For more details on this vehicle see this page
S43 Mega Bay 2 Stacked, remaining work ongoing August 19th: N:3 and section FX:4 plus the pez dispenser moved into MB2. August 28th: Common Dome section CX:3 moved into MB2. September 1st: Section A2:3 moved into MB2. It has decals but no docking ports. September 4th: Section A3:4 moved into MB2. September 10th: Transfer Tubes moved into MB2. September 15th: Aft section AX:4 moved into MB2 and stacked - this completes the stacking part of S43's assembly. Oct 16: Observers noted some nosecone dents after testing, described as not unusually severe. Oct 24: Cryogenic testing reported at Massey's. For more details on this vehicle see this page
S44 Mega Bay 2 Stacking September 22nd: Nosecone+Payload Bay stack moved into MB2, and FX:4. September 23rd: Pez dispenser moved into MB2. Nosecone and payload bay integration in progress. For more details on this vehicle see this page
Booster Location Status Comment
B21 Launch Site Successfully flown on flight 14 July 17th: Rolled out to Massey's Test Site for Cryo+Thrust Puck Testing. July 18th: Partial Cryo Test. July 19th: Second Partial Cryo Test. July 20th: Full Cryo Test. July 22nd: Rolled back to MB1. August 25th: Rolled out to the Launch Site for Static Fire Testing. August 28th: Static Fire, all 33 engines, lasting 15 seconds. August 29th: Rolled back to MB1. September 20th: Rolled out to the Launch Site for Flight 14. September 24th: Wet Dress Rehearsal. Sept 28: Successfully powered the first orbital mission. Performed a soft splashdown and subsequent FTS demonstration in the Gulf. For more details on this vehicle and its assembly and testing see this page
B22 Launch Pad 2 Static fire campaign for Flight 15 August 14th: Methane Tank stacked onto the LOX tank, completing the stacking part of the assembly process. September 8th: Rolled out to Massey's Test Site for Cryo Testing. September 12th: Rolled back to MB2. Oct 6: Rolled to launch site for integration with S42. Oct 17: Observed at the production site awaiting rollout for pre-flight static fire testing. Oct 24: Rolled out from Mega Bay 1 and lifted onto the Orbital Launch Mount at Pad 2. Oct 25: Full-duration 33-engine static fire at Pad 2, reported around 13:22 UTC and described as nominal by observers; SpaceX posted video of the test. For more details on this vehicle and its assembly and testing see this page
B23 Mega Bay 1 Post-cryo proof August 14th: LOX tank sections A2:4 and CX:3 moved into MB1. August 27th: Methane Landing Tank and lower Transfer Tube moved into MB1 as well as section A6:4. September 8th: Aft section AX:2 and LOX Landing Tank moved into MB1. September 18th: Section FX:3 moved into MB1. September 24th or 25th: Fully Stacked, remaining work ongoing. Oct 13: Rolled out to Massey's Test Site for initial cryogenic proof testing. Oct 15: Extended cryogenic test campaign at Massey's, including a chill of roughly 12 hours (per NASASpaceflight). Oct 18: Returned overnight from Massey's to Mega Bay 1 at the production site following the cryo proof campaign; SpaceX has not publicly confirmed the test result. For more details on this vehicle and its assembly and testing see this page
B24 Mega Bay 1 LOX Tanking Stacking September 25th: LOX tank section A2:4 moved into MB1. Oct 17: LOX landing tank observed being installed. For more details on this vehicle and its assembly and testing see this page

Follow the Ringwatchers on Twitter and Discord for more.

Here's the section stacking locations for Ships and Boosters. Also some excellent detailed booster stacking information from zh_sos1. The abbreviations used in the above vehicle updates are as follows: HS = Hot Stage. PL = Payload. CX = Common Dome. AX = Aft Dome. FX = Forward Dome (as can be seen, an 'X' denotes a dome). ML = Mid LOX. F = Forward. A = Aft. For example, A2:4 = Aft section 2 made up of 4 rings, FX:4 = Forward Dome section made up of 4 rings, PL:3 = PayLoad section made up of 3 rings. Etc.

Something wrong? Update this thread via wiki page. For edit permission, message the mods or contact u/strawwalker.

Rules

We will attempt to keep this self-post current with links and major updates, but for the most part, we expect the community to supply the information. This is a great place to discuss Starship development, ask Starship specific questions, and track the progress of the production and test campaigns. Starship Development Threads are not party threads. Normal subreddit rules still apply.

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u/yoweigh 27d ago

The r/SpaceX moderation team is currently seeking a volunteer to maintain the Starship Development Thread! u/Twigling has decided their time has come to retire as custodian here, and we'd like to thank him for his many years of service. His contribution to the community over that span has been immeasurably significant and we all owe him a debt of gratitude.

This thread still needs to be updated, though. If you're the sort of person who totally nerds out over Starship and is constantly aware of its current development progress, then we could really use your help! Your responsibility would be to update the wiki page that this dev thread is pulling data from. You can look at either this post itself or the wiki to see what sort of effort that entails. If you'd like to apply or have any questions, you can either contact us directly or leave a comment below this one.

We figure this is as good a time as any to ask for the community's feedback. What do you like/dislike about the Starship Development thread? Should moderation be more or less strict? Should the post contain more or less data? What do you find particularly helpful here, and what about it just plain sucks? Please let us know in your responses to this comment!

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u/threelonmusketeers 7h ago

My daily summary from the Starship Dev thread on Lemmy

2026-10-27:

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u/Straumli_Blight 20h ago

1100-EX-CN-2026 [Oct 26]

SpaceX seeks authority to extend its existing Special Temporary Authority to operate Starlink earth stations as space stations on SpaceX Reentry Vehicles for a period of two years.

As with its currently authorized operations, SpaceX will deploy the Reentry Vehicle as a secondary payload on Falcon and Starship launches.

[...]

Starship launches could originate from Starbase TX, KSC or Cape Canaveral SFS.

[...]

Each Reentry payload launched from the Starship launch vehicle will consist of a frame containing up to four Reentry vehicles, which will be dispensed from Starship and will continue a suborbital trajectory.

[...]

The Reentry vehicle will be deployed during Upper Stage/Starship descent at a maximum altitude of 500 km and deorbit before reentering.

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u/Tuefelshund 19h ago

am I correct in assuming that everyone has been happy with how starfall has performed and spacex is now applying for permission to launch them on starship starlink launches?

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u/rocketglare 16h ago

That first sentence implies they can put a Starlink terminal on the Starfall payload to allow in orbit communications.

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u/threelonmusketeers 1d ago

My daily summary from the Starship Dev thread on Lemmy

2026-10-26:

4

u/MyKillK 8h ago

The Raptor 3 thrust revision timing is interesting given the confident statements about the Raptor issues being resolved for Flight 15. I wonder if the v3 launches intentionally pushed Raptors to their limits to see what the reliability ceiling was and expose design issues SpaceX might not otherwise have seen. So now they've got the data, made some software and hardware changes, and have revised the max thrust moving forward.

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u/pxr555 4h ago

I'm wondering what this means for the 100 tonnes payload target for v3...

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u/SteelWillyz 1d ago

I don't understand how a fully fueled Starship in LEO still isn't enough for a HLS Mission. crazy

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u/AhChirrion 1d ago

HLS is a massive vehicle.

I've seen one or two Starship V3 weight estimates at SpaceXLounge that conclude it has a 150 metric tons of dry mass.

HLS will be based on Ship V3 with important differences: heatshield removed (thats 10 tons less), flaps removed (12 tons), flap engines and other internal flap-supporting hardware removed (??? tons).

Then HLS will need thermal insulation to mitigate propellant boiloff and maybe active cooling (add 10 tons?), heavy shielding to protect crew, life support systems, elevator, crew dock, airlock, etc. (add 12 tons?), landing legs, 12+ Moon thrusters with their plumbing (??? tons).

So, a rough estimate is HLS weights the same 150 tons as Starship V3.

It doesn't need to go to NRHO, only to LLO, but it's hauling Orion, which I believe has a wet mass of 35 tons.

The advantage of LLO is that on Lunar ascent it only needs to go to LLO, not higher to NRHO, so no HLS refueling on the Moon surface or orbit is needed to go back and dock again with Orion. HLS maybe could go all the way up to NRHO, but not with the safe remaining prop margins Nasa requires.

Of course there are longer trajectories to reach the Moon with less fuel, but a crewed mission can't afford a two-month roundtrip at the moment.

That's it. The actual HLS's dry mass is coming closer to 150 tons than the planned 100 tons.

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u/rocketglare 1d ago

Keep in mind it’s pushing a fully fueled Orion into LLO from HEO.

3

u/AstronoWorld 1d ago

With Elon’s tweet about R3 only reliably getting to 230T of thrust, do you think the max amount of v3 Starlinks is a lot closer to 26 than the 60 Starship can fit?

I understand from the Flight 14 path to orbit and large propellant margins that they have more capability, but now I’m doubting just how much that capability is.

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u/rocketglare 1d ago

Hard to tell. I'm thinking that performance is more than 26, but probably less than 60. I'm thinking 50 is about right. I'm sure someone with a spreadsheet can plug this in and figure it out with some large error bars. One of the unknowns is how much a V3 satellite weighs. It could be anywhere from 1700 to 2300 kg.

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u/Zer0nerve 1d ago

Seems like they need to shave 50 tons of dry mass without ruining the stack. Maybe we see more structural test articles in the future testing mass reductions.

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u/warp99 1d ago

The FCC application gave a maximum mass of 2000 kg and the dummy satellites on Flight 13 were stated to be 1700 kg each on the launch telecast. So 1700 kg x 26 = 44 tonnes.

Elon stated that 26 satellites is around half capacity so it looks like 50-54 satellites is about right.

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u/rocketglare 1d ago

Two Elon quotes on Raptor today:

Raptor 3 thrust is reliably ~230tf

Raptor 4 thrust will be 300tf, hopefully same weight

4

u/Puzzleheaded-Pea1383 1d ago

They initially claimed 280tf for Raptor 3.. maybe "reliably" is key here? And maybe thats the source for the 22 launches for refuel story calculations.

21

u/threelonmusketeers 2d ago

My daily summary from the Starship Dev thread on Lemmy

2026-10-25:

10

u/H-K_47 2d ago

Ship 43 returning from Massey's while Ship 42 is taking its place. Booster 22 was also lifted on Pad 2 up to catch height.

NSF

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u/VaryingDesigner92 3d ago

Booster 22 static fire https://x.com/NASASpaceflight/status/2114347288739098706?s=20

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u/H-K_47 2d ago

Haven't followed it too closely this past week, are we still tracking to hit Nov 8?

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u/maschnitz 2d ago edited 1d ago

If Ship 42 rolls out for static fire, soonish, and does as well as Booster 22 just did, sure.

(The fact that B22 is not off the launch mount already, not withstanding. Perhaps they want another test.)

EDIT: it turns out, SpaceX were waiting for Ship 43 and Ship 42 to be ready, to move all three at once.

Booster 22 is back in Megabay 1; Ship 43 is at the door of Megabay 2 (perhaps on its way to the pad, for catch testing); and Ship 42 is at the static fire stand at Massey's.

All done overnight - Ship 43 rolled by itself, Ship 42 and Booster 22 rolled at the same time.

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u/philupandgo 2d ago

Per the above summary of ships and boosters, click the link for the S42 Fandom page. The ship has yet to do a static fire test. After that is payload install and explosives for the FTS. They appear to be well on track.

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u/dk_undefined 3d ago

Booster 22 did a 15 seconds static fire at 8:22:35 AM