Launch Date: January 16, 2025
Launch Time: 4:37 p.m. CT, 5:37 ET; 2237 UTC, 23:37 CET.
Launch Window: Opens at 4:00 p.m. CT and closes at 5:00 p.m. CT.
Launch Status: Scheduled and announced
Launch Provider: SpaceX
Launcher System: Starship-Super Heavy (Prototype) – (Vehicles: Starship 33 & Booster 14)
Flight: Suborbital Test Flight
Mission: Starship Test Flight 7
Flight: #1
Launch Location: Orbital Launch Pad A (OLP-A), Starbase, Texas, USA
Status: Super Heavy Booster has been successfully catched by the tower; unfortunately, 8 minutes into the flight, there was a loss of telemetry to the Starship, and SpaceX claimed it as a loss.
The seventh flight test of Starship is targeted for January 16, 2025. It will be to launch the Super Heavy and, for the first time, a Block 2 Starship.
The launch is scheduled for 4:00 p.m. CT, 2200 UTC, 23:00 CET; a launch window is available until 5:38 p.m. CT.
As with all developmental testing, the schedule is dynamic and likely to change.
The sixth flight test of Starship launched from Starbase on November 19, 2024, seeking to expand the envelope of ship and booster capabilities and bring the entire system’s reuse closer to online.
The Super Heavy booster successfully lifted off at the start of the launch window, with all 33 Raptor engines powering it and Starship off the pad from Starbase. Following a nominal ascent and stage separation, the booster successfully transitioned to its boostback burn to begin the return to the launch site. During this phase, automated health checks of critical hardware on the launch and catch tower triggered an abort of the catch attempt. The booster then executed a pre-planned divert maneuver, performing a landing burn and soft splashdown in the Gulf of Mexico.
Starship completed another successful ascent, placing it on the expected trajectory. While in space, the ship successfully reignited a single Raptor engine, demonstrating the capabilities required to conduct a ship deorbit burn before starting complete orbital missions. With live views and telemetry relayed by Starlink, the ship successfully made it through reentry and executed a flip, landing burn, and soft splashdown in the Indian Ocean.
Data gathered from the multiple thermal protection experiments and the successful flight through subsonic speeds at a more aggressive angle of attack provides invaluable feedback on flight hardware’s performance in a flight environment as we aim for an eventual ship return and catch.
With data and flight learnings as our primary payload, Starship’s sixth flight test once again delivered. Lessons learned will make the entire Starship system more reliable as we close in on full and rapid reusability.
For Test-Flight 7, which is the same flight trajectory as test flight 6, the returning booster will slow down from supersonic speeds, resulting in audible sonic booms in the area around the landing zone. Generally, the only impact on those in the surrounding area of a sonic boom is the brief thunder-like noise with variables like weather and distance from the return site, which determine the magnitude experienced by observers. The Starship’s upper stage will fly on the same suborbital trajectory as the previous flight test, with splashdown targeted in the Indian Ocean. Another objective for this flight will be attempting an in-space burn using a single Raptor engine, further demonstrating the capabilities required to conduct a ship deorbit burn before orbital missions.
Future ships, starting with the vehicle planned for the seventh flight test, will fly with significant upgrades, including redesigned forward flaps, larger propellant tanks, and the latest generation tiles and secondary thermal protection layers, as we continue to iterate towards a fully reusable heat shield. Learnings from this and subsequent flight tests will continue to make the entire Starship system more reliable as we close in on full and rapid reusability.
System Overview:
Height: 120 m / 394 ft
Diameter: 9 m / 30 ft
Payload to LEO: 100+ t / 220+ klb
Starship Height: 50 m / 164 ft
Diameter: 9 m / 30 ft
Propellant Capacity: 1200 t / 2.6 Mlb
Thrust: 1500 tf / 3.2Mlbf
Payload Capacity: 100 -150 t orbit dependent
Booster Height: 69 m / 230 ft
Booster Diameter: 9 m / 30 ft
Propellant Capacity: 3400 t / 6.8 Mlb
Thrust: 7590 tf / 17 Mlbf
Payload: The Starship payload fairing is 9 m in diameter and 18 m high, resulting in the most significant usable payload volume of any current or in-development launcher. This payload volume can be configured for both crew and cargo.
Payload Volume Height: 8 m / 59 ft
Payload Fairing Diameter: 9 m / 30 ft
Payload Volume: 100 m3 / 38,800 ft3
Useful Mass: 100+ t / 220+ klb
