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SpaceX Starship Flight 13 launch updates: Super Heavy booster rolled back for final checkouts

SpaceX is progressing toward Starship's next big test launch.

SpaceX's massive Starship, the world's largest and most powerful rocket, is scheduled to launch its critical test flight no earlier than Thursday, July 16, at 6:45 p.m. EDT (2245 GMT) from Starbase, Texas. Our live webcast will begin about 30 minutes prior to liftoff.

You can see our latest updates on the Starship V3 (short for Version 3) rocket, including its test flight goals, system upgrades and more. Flight 13 is the 13th test launch of the Starship vehicle since 2023.

Launch livestream | Starship V3 upgrades explained | SpaceX

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Super Heavy booster moved back to hangar

A massively tall chrome booster stands behind a row of palmettos next to a black, reflective building coverd in large windows.

(Image credit: SpaceX)

Following a static fire engine test last Friday (July 10), SpaceX has lowered the Flight 13 Super Heavy, Booster 20, from the launch stand and transported the stage back to its hangar at the company's Starbase, Texas, facility.

The booster will roll back to the pad in the next day or so, along with Ship 40, the Flight 13 Starship upper stage. The pair will be stacked a Starbase's pad 2, where it's expected the rocket will undergo at least one additional engine test prior to launch.

SpaceX is still targeting July 16 for liftoff of Starship's 13th test flight, scheduled to get off the ground during a 90-minute window that opens at 6:45 p.m. EDT (2245 GMT).

Read how this launch will deploy SpaceX's first batch up upgraded Starlink Version 3 satellites into space.

How to watch SpaceX launch Starship Flight 13 on July 16

Josh Dinner
Josh Dinner

SpaceX targeting July 16 for Starship Flight 13

The next Starship launch has arrived!

SpaceX is targeting no earlier than July 16 for the next launch of its massive Starship rocket, the company announced on in a post on X. Flight 13 will be the second launch of the vehicle's Version 3 configuration and will be similar in profile to Flight 12. It will be the second launch for Starship "Version 3" (V3), a bigger, more powerful upgrade from previous Starship designs, and will come a little less than two months after V3's debut.

A 90-minute launch window will begin on Thursday at 6:45 p.m. EDT (2245 GMT). A livestream of the mission will begin about 30 minutes prior to liftoff and stream on the company's mission page, profile on X and here on Space.com.

Full story: SpaceX targets July 16 for Starship Flight 13, reveals what went wrong on previous launch


Josh Dinner
Josh Dinner

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