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Starship flight test 10
Tenth launch of SpaceX Starship From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Starship flight test 10 will be the tenth flight test of a SpaceX Starship launch vehicle. Booster 16 and Ship 37 will fly on this test flight.[2][3][4]
The launch was initially expected no earlier than (NET) June 29, 2025,[5] but was delayed due to the loss of Ship 36 in a testing anomaly in mid June. The launch date is slated to be no earlier than August 24, 2025.[6][4]
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Background
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Impact of Flights 7, 8 and 9
SpaceX has suffered a succession of flight test failures since Flight 7, each time with a failure related to the second-stage ship, while the booster stage ascents were each nominal.[7][8] During the ascent burn on Flight 7, the second-stage ship sustained a fire in the aft section, which led to the loss of several engines, and the eventual destruction of the vehicle.[9][10] An internal investigation identified propellant leaks caused by strong harmonic oscillations as the probable root cause.
During the ascent burn of the ship on Flight 8, an explosion in the aft section led to the loss of several engines and subsequent vehicle termination.[11] An internal investigation identified a hardware failure on one of the central Raptor engines as the probable root cause.[12]
During Flight 9, Starship reached its intended trajectory after completing the full-duration second stage burn, but experienced multiple failures during the coast phase of the flight, resulting in a loss of attitude control. Subsequently, the vehicle was passivated and the later flight objectives abandoned, with the vehicle disintegrating upon reentry, but doing so in the planned descent corridor, so rocket debris fell into the ocean as planned for in the event of such an anomaly.[7][8] An FAA-ordered investigation into the flight was closed on August 15, 2025.[13]
Vehicle testing ahead of launch
Ship 36 and impact of its explosion
Ship 36 was assembled in Mega Bay 2 (MB2) throughout February and March 2025.[14] It was rolled out to the Massey's test site for cryogenic testing on April 26, 2025.[15][16] It conducted a full cryogenic test on April 27.[17] It was rolled back to MB2 for engine installation on April 29.[18] It was rolled out to the Massey's test site on June 15, followed by conducting a single engine 6 second duration static fire on June 16.[19][20] As propellant was being loaded for static fire testing on June 18, Ship 36 exploded, resulting in severe damage to the Massey's test site.[21] Initial analysis indicated that a nitrogen COPV located in the vehicle's nose cone burst below its rated pressure, which in turn led to the destruction of the vehicle.[22] Fires sparked by the anomaly continued burning at the test site for several hours.
Due to the loss of Ship 36, Ship 37 will be the designated spacecraft for Flight 10 instead, with the confirmation being the removal of the static fire-adapter for the ship on August 3, 2025, as Ship 38 had not yet been tested up to that point under a static fire.[23]
Ship 37
Ship 37 payload bay and nose cone were moved into MB2 on March 15, 2025.[24] Its CH4 transfer tubes were moved into MB2 in mid-April.[25] On May 29, Ship 37 was rolled to Massey's test site for cryogenic testing.[26] After completing these tests, it returned to MB2 on June 4.[27] On July 28, 2025, Ship 37 was rolled to the launch site for a static fire,[28] where it was lifted onto Pad 1.[29] Ship 37 then completed a single engine, 6 second duration static fire on July 31.[30] It then completed a 10 second duration static fire of all its 6 engines on August 1. The ship was then removed from the orbital launch mount (OLM) on August 2,[31] and transported back to MB2 on August 3 for final checks and tile installation ahead of flight.[32] Ship 37 received a new Raptor Vacuum engine on August 4, and was subsequently rolled back to Pad 1 and lifted onto the OLM on August 11.[33] It was then loaded with propellant ahead of a spin prime test on August 12, but the test was aborted after a leak in one of the supply lines was detected.[34] Ship 37 completed a successful 6 engine spin prime test on August 13,[35] before it was lifted off the OLM on the same day,[36] and rolled back to MB2 on August 14.
Booster 16
Booster 16 conducted a cryogenic test on February 28, 2025[37] before being rolled back to the production site on March 20 for engine installation.[38] It rolled out to the launch site on June 3 for static fire testing.[39] On June 5, it aborted an attempted static fire test,[40] before completing the thirty three engine static fire on June 6.[41] It was then lifted off the OLM on June 7 and rolled back to Mega Bay 1 on June 8.[42]
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Mission profile
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The mission profile for Flight 10 is almost identical to Flight 9, with almost all the same objectives.[6] Booster 16 is planned to test a directional flip on stage separation and an engine-out landing burn scenario, with 1 center engine intentionally disabled being replaced by an engine from the middle ring of 10. Booster 16 will then hover over the ocean surface before dropping into the Gulf of Mexico on its maiden flight.[6] The booster will descend at an angle of attack less extreme than Booster 14-2 in the previous flight.[43] Ship 37 is planned to deploy 8 Starlink mass simulators, as well as demonstrate an in-space Raptor relight test. It is planned to splashdown in the Indian Ocean.[6]
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References
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