WASHINGTON — SpaceX is set to conduct its next Starship test flight as the company continues to test the launch vehicle and perform well with others in the airspace.
Starship’s Flight 11 mission is scheduled to launch from the company’s Starbase test site in South Texas on Oct. 13 at 7:15 p.m. SpaceX said in a social media post on October 12 that there was an 80% chance of favorable weather for the launch.
This mission will be another suborbital flight similar to the Flight 10 mission in August. This will include the deployment of large-scale simulators of the next generation Starlink satellites and the recalibration of a single Raptor engine while the Starship is in space. SpaceX also plans to test the vehicle’s thermal protection system and perform a “dynamic banking maneuver” before splashing down in the Indian Ocean, which the vehicle will perform on subsequent flights when returning to Starbase.
The Super Heavy booster used for Flight 11 was first launched on Flight 8 in March and consists of 24 previously flown Raptor engines. SpaceX said it would use the booster to test different engine configurations for return to Starbase, although on this flight the stage would intentionally touch down offshore.
This will be the final flight of Version 2 of Starship, which suffered mission-terminating malfunctions on its first three launches in January, March and May before completing its planned mission in the August flight. A more powerful version 3 of the vehicle is expected to be launched by the end of this year.
On its webpage outlining the upcoming flight, SpaceX emphasized the limited impact the launch would have on air traffic, citing the experience of Flight 10 in August.
“SpaceX works closely with the FAA and international air traffic organizations to efficiently and safely integrate all launch and reentry operations into the airspace,” the company said. “During Starship Flight 10, the FAA reopened all affected airspace within nine minutes, with some portions reopening within seven minutes, and there were no meaningful disruptions to air traffic.”
The focus comes as the company faces opposition over plans to launch Starship from Florida. Separate environmental reviews are underway for Starship operations from Kennedy Space Center’s Launch Complex 39A and Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 37, formerly used by Delta 4.
A draft environmental impact statement for Starship launches from KSC, which reviews the impacts of 44 launches and 88 landings per year, cited the potential for flight delays at several major Florida airports of between 40 to 120 minutes for launches and 40 to 60 minutes for landings.
“There is a possibility that there is going to be a significant impact on commercial aviation,” John Tiliakos, chief operating officer of Tampa International Airport, said in a virtual public hearing on Sept. 3 about the draft environmental report. “This is something the FAA needs to consider and, frankly, put a plan in place to mitigate.”
SpaceX emphasized its efforts to minimize the impact of launches on airspace and other users in a statement posted on its website last month. “SpaceX continually works with the FAA to understand the best ways to efficiently integrate launch and reentry operations into the National Airspace System,” the company said.
The large aircraft hazard areas, or AHAs, included in the environmental assessment, which increase the potential for delays at Florida airports for Starship launches, can be reduced over time, the company said.
“The AHA and related statements published within the recent Launch Complex 39A Draft Environmental Impact Statement are extremely conservative by nature and are intended to include the full range of worst-case outcomes, but not any one real-world operation,” the company said.
It added, “SpaceX fully anticipates that actual, implemented AHAs will be much smaller in geographic scope and much shorter in duration, which is validated by the strong flight data and legacy we are building from Starbase.”
