Date of Mission: October 13, 2025
Mission: Starship Flight Test 11
Launch Site: Starbase, Texas (Pad-1)
Booster / Ship Pair: Super Heavy B15-2 + Ship 38 (Block 2)
Landing Plans: Booster into Gulf of Mexico, Ship into Indian Ocean
Program: SpaceX Starship flight test series
🕒 Timeline & Mission Sequence
| Time / Phase | Activity & Details |
|---|---|
| T-0 (Approx. 6:15 p.m. CDT / 23:15 UTC) | Liftoff from Starbase, using the Block 2 Super Heavy booster and Starship upper stage |
| + ~2 minutes | Booster separation — Super Heavy detaches and heads for controlled descent |
| + ~8–10 minutes | Booster reentry and controlled splashdown in Gulf of Mexico |
| + ~20–25 minutes | Starship coasts in suborbital trajectory, conducts engine tests & maneuvers |
| + ~50–60 minutes | Ship 38 reentry over ocean, deploys heat shield and attempts controlled descent |
| Landing (planned) | Ship lands (splashes down) in the Indian Ocean northwest of Western Australia |
Note: This mission is expected to repeat many maneuvers from prior tests, but with incremental tweaks in heat shield, engine reignition, maneuvering, and reentry control.
🎯 Mission Objectives & Why It Matters
- Testing Reusability & Engineering Limits
This is the last flight of the Block 2 version of Starship. The flight will push the heat shield, structural systems, and Raptor engines under stress conditions to validate upgrades.
The goal is to inform design improvements for future versions. - Multiple Engine Restarts & Maneuvers
One of the core tests is to reignite engines in space, try banking maneuvers during descent, and measure performance under varying thermal and aerodynamic stress. - Advancing Landing Techniques
The mission includes booster splashdown in water (Gulf of Mexico) and a controlled Ship splashdown in the ocean, simulating recovery and operability in harsh environments. - Orbital Technology Demonstrations
The flight may carry “dummy payloads” or test modules (e.g. mock satellites) to test aspects of deployment in future operational flights. - Roadmap Toward Operational Flights
Each test brings SpaceX closer to its goal of fully reusable rockets and large-scale launch cadence — vital for ambitions like Moon, Mars missions, and heavy constellation deployments.
🔍 Key Risks & Watch Points
- Thermal stress & reentry survivability — heat shield integrity is always a chief concern.
- Engine reliability during reignition — restart failures have plagued prior missions.
- Aerodynamic control on descent — banking or tilting maneuvers must be precise.
- Splashdown accuracy — both the booster and upper stage must land where planned.
- Transition to future versions — this is a “transition flight” before SpaceX moves to newer designs.
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