Starship flight test 9

This article is about the ninth flight test of the Starship+Super Heavy vehicle. For other launches of Starship, see List of Starship launches.

Starship flight test 9 will be the ninth flight test of a SpaceX Starship launch vehicle. Ship 35 and Booster 14 will fly on this test flight. A specific date for the flight has not yet been publicly released.^[2][3]

Starship flight test 9

Mission type	Flight test
Operator	SpaceX
Spacecraft properties
Spacecraft	Starship Ship 35
Spacecraft type	Starship (Block 2)
Manufacturer	SpaceX
Start of mission
Launch date	NET May 2025[1]
Rocket	Super Heavy (Block 1, B14-2)
Launch site	Starbase, OLP-A
End of mission
Landing site	Super Heavy: Starbase, OLP-A (planned), Gulf of Mexico (contingency) Ship: Indian Ocean (planned)
SpaceX Starship flight tests ← Flight 8 Flight 10 →

Background

Vehicle testing ahead of launch

Ship 35 was assembled in Mega Bay 2,^[4] with the configuration of its heat shield hinting at catch hardware.^[5] Ship 35 then underwent 3 rounds of cryo testing at Massey's Test Site on March 11 and 12 and was rolled back to the production site on March 13.^[6] It was rolled out to Massey's for static fire on April 29.^[7] A static fire attempt on April 29 was scrubbed for an unknown reason during propellant loading.^[8] The test was completed on April 30,^[9] simulating an "in-space burn" using a single engine.^[10] It completed a second, long duration static fire on May 1.^[11]

B14 was rolled back to Mega Bay 1 for refurbishment on January 18,^[12] following its use on Flight 7.^[13] It rolled to OLP-A on April 1, where it conducted a static fire test on April 3.^[14] Following this test, SpaceX confirmed B14's assignment, as well as stating that 29 of its 33 engines had previously flown.^[15] Booster 14 returned to the production site on April 8.^[16] Its Hot Staging Ring (HSR) was moved to Mega Bay 1 on April 16 and installed on April 17.^[17]

Impact of Flights 7 and 8

After Flight 6, Elon Musk stated that Flight 8 could be the first 'catch' of the Ship should Flight 7's landing be successful.^[18] Due to the failure of S33 to complete its ascent burn, this was delayed to a later mission,^[19] along with the likely required insertion burn into Low Earth orbit.^[20] Before Flight 8, Flight 9 was expected to feature the first ship catch attempt,^[21] with FCC permits for Flight 9 stating the potential for a catch.^[22] However, Flight 8 also failed during the ascent burn, delaying the ship catch to a future mission.^[23]