The uncrewed Starship prototype will follow a similar flight plan to the last three missions and aim to complete test objectives left untried during those tests, all of which ended prematurely. SpaceX debuted the current generation of Starship vehicles in January, following a clean run of test missions with a slightly scaled-down version of the rocket in 2024.<\/p>\n
But since that debut, the vehicle has twice exploded over populated islands east of Florida, creating debris that hit roadways in Turks and Caicos<\/a> and washed up onto the shores of Bahamian islands<\/a>. The spacecraft also spun out of control<\/a> as it headed toward its landing site in the Indian Ocean on its last test flight in May.<\/p>\n Then, in June, a Starship spacecraft that had been strapped to an engine testing stand at the company\u2019s launch and development facilities in South Texas abruptly exploded \u2014 spewing shrapnel and causing damage to SpaceX infrastructure.<\/p>\n These setbacks roused long-standing SpaceX critics and attracted new ones, including the Mexican government<\/a>, which has threatened legal action against the company over reported debris on and around its shores. The UK government also said in a statement Thursday that it\u2019s been \u201cworking closely with US Government partners to protect the safety\u201d of its overseas territories, including Turks and Caicos.<\/p>\n The string of mishaps this year has also raised concerns among spaceflight experts and stakeholders who have emphasized that the United States has a lot riding on Starship\u2019s eventual success, including its plans to return humans to the moon as soon as 2027.<\/p>\n And that success is not guaranteed.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s very, very difficult to predict how this is going to end up,\u201d said Garrett Reisman, a former NASA astronaut and SpaceX consultant who is a professor of astronautical engineering at the University of Southern California.<\/p>\n \u201cI think it could end up never working, or it could end up revolutionizing our entire future of activities in space \u2014 and geopolitics,\u201d he added, referring to the US goal of displaying technical superiority to China in a new space race<\/a>.<\/p>\n Why SpaceX is allowed to fly again A plume of exhaust trails from a Starship rocket after a test launch from South Texas on May 27. – Sergio Flores\/AFP\/Getty Images<\/p>\n SpaceX said it implemented changes to the Starship system slated to fly this weekend in response to the last in-flight failure in May.<\/p>\n Those alterations include adjustments to a component called a fuel diffuser, which the company believes malfunctioned during the last flight, causing higher-than-expected pressure to build up in Starship\u2019s nose cone. It is likely what caused the vehicle to spiral out of control, according to a technical overview SpaceX published<\/a> last week.<\/p>\n Despite the series of recent problems, the Federal Aviation Administration \u2014 which licenses commercial rocket launches \u2014 said last week it had closed its investigation into SpaceX\u2019s latest mishap and approved the company\u2019s plans to fly Sunday\u2019s mission.<\/p>\n Under current laws and regulations, the FAA is tasked solely with ensuring that commercial rocket companies do not pose a risk to public property or bystanders\u2019 safety.<\/p>\n \u201cThere are no reports of public injury or damage to public property. The FAA oversaw and accepted the findings of the SpaceX-led investigation,\u201d the agency said in an August 15 statement. \u201cSpaceX identified corrective actions to prevent a reoccurrence of the event.\u201d<\/p>\n A long road ahead President Donald Trump listens as SpaceX CEO Elon Musk speaks on the South Lawn of the White House on March 11 in Washington, DC. – Andrew Harnik\/Getty Images<\/p>\n In its update, SpaceX also made clear that the version of Starship that has experienced so many issues will soon be retired.<\/p>\n \u201cTwo flights remain with the current generation, each with test objectives designed to expand the envelope on vehicle capabilities,\u201d according to a company blog post.<\/p>\n SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has already been teasing plans for larger, more ambitious iterations of the vehicle that would stretch even taller and carry more propellant.<\/p>\n Now it appears clear that SpaceX will pursue that scaled-up version of Starship \u2014 which is already more than twice as powerful as the NASA rockets that powered the Apollo moon landings \u2014 whether or not the current line of Starship prototypes ever pulls off a successful test flight.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s very possible that a bigger upgrade might solve the current problem,\u201d Reisman said. \u201cIt also could introduce new problems \u2014 you never know.\u201d<\/p>\n Notably, the US government has taken several steps that could aide SpaceX in its efforts to expedite Starship testing.<\/p>\n In May, the FAA approved the company\u2019s plans to launch Starship as many as 25 times per year from Texas, up from the five it had been previously authorized to conduct.<\/p>\n And earlier this month, President Donald Trump \u2014 despite a public and vitriolic falling out with Musk in June \u2014 issued an executive order<\/a> that appears designed to scale back roadblocks and regulatory oversight for private-sector rocket operations, including environmental reviews.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, the stakes appear to be growing with each Starship test flight, as SpaceX is racing against the clock.<\/strong><\/p>\n Not only does Musk want to send one of the vehicles on an uncrewed flight to Mars when the next opportunity arises in 2026, but NASA also plans to send its astronauts to the lunar surface aboard one of the vehicles as soon as mid-2027 as part of a $2.9 billion contract.<\/p>\n \u201cWe made this bet\u201d on Starship, said Janet Petro, who served as acting NASA administrator until July<\/a>. \u201cThey have had a rough year, but SpaceX is a pretty intense and motivated company.\u201d<\/p>\n Petro added she had \u201cfull confidence\u201d that SpaceX will refine Starship\u2019s design and get the vehicle working.<\/p>\n Reisman, the former SpaceX adviser, said he is also hopeful but less certain.<\/p>\n \u201cSpaceX has made an existential gamble on Starship,\u201d Reisman said, adding that he is concerned about the rate of progress SpaceX has been making with Starship. \u201cThey\u2019re pouring a tremendous amount of money and resources into its development \u2026 but at some point, the laws of financial physics still apply.\u201d<\/p>\n What SpaceX hopes to achieve with Flight 10 The Starship Flight 8 booster returns the launchpad at SpaceX’s South Texas facilities on March 6. – Brandon Bell\/Getty Images<\/p>\n If all goes according to plan with Starship\u2019s next flight, referred to as Flight 10, the 400-foot-tall Starship launch system will take off from SpaceX\u2019s facilities in South Texas and soar out over the waters off the coast.<\/p>\n The bottom portion of the rocket system that gives the initial burst of power at liftoff, called Super Heavy, will attempt to make a controlled splashdown off the Texas coast, according to SpaceX.<\/p>\n For this mission, the company will not attempt to repeat its dramatic Super Heavy \u201cchopsticks\u201d landing in which the rocket booster steers itself back into the arms of the tower from which it launched. SpaceX said it will instead put the booster through a series of tests designed to push the vehicle to its limits \u201cto gather real-world performance data\u201d that could mimic a future mission that does not go as planned.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, the upper Starship spacecraft, which is designed to one day carry cargo or convoys of astronauts but will haul only dummy satellites for this mission, will continue flying through space.<\/p>\n During the flight, Starship will attempt to deploy the eight satellite \u201csimulators\u201d as well as relight one of the spacecraft\u2019s rocket engines in space. SpaceX has failed to hit both of those milestones in its last three test missions.<\/p>\n Even if this V2 Starship prototype meets a similarly ill fate, SpaceX is likely once again to frame the test flight as a success.<\/p>\n The company employs an engineering philosophy called \u201crapid iterative development,\u201d which emphasizes a pursuit of launching relatively cheap prototypes on frequent test missions over extensive ground testing or other less risky simulations.<\/p>\n Because of its unique development approach, SpaceX has been known to embrace fiery mishaps. The company has said that even failed test flights help engineers improve Starship\u2019s design \u2014 quicker than if SpaceX employed alternative engineering approaches.<\/p>\n \u201cEvery lesson learned, through both flight and ground testing, continues to feed directly into designs for the next generation of Starship and Super Heavy,\u201d SpaceX\u2019s August 15 statement reads. \u201cTwo flights remain with the current generation, each with test objectives designed to expand the envelope on vehicle capabilities as we iterate towards fully and rapidly reusable, reliable rockets.\u201d<\/p>\n SpaceX\u2019s development approach, while often seen as risky and brazen, has served the company well in the past.<\/p>\n Rarely has one of the company\u2019s rockets malfunctioned once it leaves the development stage and becomes operational. The company\u2019s human spaceflight track record, using Falcon 9 rockets, has been spotless.<\/p>\n And if Starship does eventually work, Reisman said, it won\u2019t only be SpaceX \u2014 or even NASA \u2014 that benefits.<\/p>\n \u201cThe entire space industry is hoping and betting on Starship working, because if it achieves its promise, it\u2019ll also be a revolution in affordability,\u201d Reisman said. \u201cI think there\u2019s causes for optimism and pessimism \u2014 and I think it\u2019s very, very difficult to predict how this is going to end up.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/4a88a5d414c4f8578588465e5a76856c.jpeg\"\/)
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