SpaceX has set the next launch attempt for its colossal Starship rocket for Thursday, July 23, 2026. This event represents a new stage in the company’s ambitious program to develop a fully reusable space transportation system, essential for future lunar missions and even the exploration of Mars, highlighting the complexity and importance of each test phase in its evolution.

The most recent date for the Starship flight has been moved, after a series of reschedulings. First scheduled for the previous Thursday, the 16th, the launch was postponed until last Monday, the 20th, due to a problem at the time of takeoff, before being postponed again.

Details about Starship’s thirteenth flight

• Date: Thursday, July 23
• Time: 7:45 pm (Brasília time), with a 90-minute margin for the launch window, maintaining the same schedule as previous appointments.

Issues faced in previous launch attempt

Over the past week, SpaceX was unsuccessful in its thirteenth attempt to send the Starship rocket into space. Despite all the preparations seeming correct, the rocket did not take off at the moment the countdown reached zero.

Shortly after the incident, Elon Musk, founder of SpaceX, published on platform X that “some of the engines did not start, causing an automatic interruption of the launch”. He also reported that the company planned to replace two engines.

To be confident of a good flight, 2 Raptors will be removed & replaced. Most probable launch timing is early next week.— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 17, 2026

Expectations and objectives for the next release

The upcoming Starship flight test shares similar purposes with the previous mission, which introduced the Starship and Super Heavy vehicles in the V3 configuration. However, this new venture will include, for the first time, the transport of state-of-the-art Starlink V3 satellites.

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The main purpose of the Super Heavy propellant is to successfully carry out all the initial phases of the trip, covering the launch, ascent, stage separation, boostback burn and the landing maneuver in a specific location in the Gulf of Mexico.

To this end, the corporation reported that several changes were applied to both hardware and software to rectify the flaws detected in the previous test.

Modifications to correct stage separation

As communicated by SpaceX, during the separation of the stages on flight number 12, minimal variations in the activation of the Starship thrusters resulted in a misalignment of approximately 90 degrees in the Super Heavy’s rotation maneuver.

In order to prevent the recurrence of this mishap, the ignition order of the engines was adjusted, aiming for greater resilience to timing fluctuations and the execution of the intended rotation with greater precision. This modification also seeks to optimize the overall performance of the system.

Additionally, on the twelfth flight, after separation and the turning maneuver, the Super Heavy began the return burn. However, five of its 33 engines failed when trying to re-ignite, resulting in the maneuver ending prematurely.

For the next mission, the booster was equipped with hardware changes designed to increase the safety of engine restarts, and the warning and abort systems were updated to better match conditions observed in a flight with multiple engines operating simultaneously.

Launch of 20 Starlink V3 satellites by Starship

In turn, Starship’s upper stage will focus on three fundamental goals: inserting 20 Starlink V3 satellites into suborbital orbit, re-igniting a solitary Raptor engine in space and once again carrying out a controlled entry into the atmosphere, culminating in a scheduled landing in the Indian Ocean.

SpaceX also implemented several modifications to Starship’s propulsion system, seeking to resolve the engine failure that was documented in the previous flight.

Approximately 40 seconds after the separation of the stages in the previous mission, the spacecraft lost one of its three Raptor engines, designed to operate in a vacuum. However, even with this failure, the vehicle demonstrated its ability to continue the mission, reaching the previously established suborbital trajectory.

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The company disclosed that several hardware modifications and operational adjustments have been implemented to address the interconnected origins of the problem. Additionally, additional reliability improvements are scheduled for future editions of the Raptor engine.

Debut of the new generation of Starlink satellites on the mission

For the first time in history, Starship will transport Starlink V3 satellites into space, designed to significantly expand network capacity and increase the speed available to users.

During this inaugural test phase, the spacecraft is tasked with releasing twenty satellites. After being released, these satellites will activate their solar panels and antennas, seeking to establish contact with the Starlink constellation through high-power lasers.

The satellites will maintain the same suborbital trajectory as Starship and are scheduled to be incinerated upon atmospheric re-entry, approximately twenty minutes after their release.

Starship heat shield inspection by satellites

A group of six satellites was equipped with specific cameras, capable of examining Starship’s heat shield while it is in flight and relaying these images to teams located on the ground.

The intention is to continue experimenting with different approaches to analyzing the conditions of the heat shield, preparing Starship for future missions where returning to the launch point will be crucial.

In addition to this experiment, several plates of the ship’s thermal protection coating were painted white. The purpose is to simulate missing components and thus serve as reference points for the cameras.

New experiments with the heat shield

In addition to the verifications carried out by the satellites, the mission will explore a series of improvements and tests linked to Starship’s heat shield, boosting progress towards a fully reusable vehicle with accelerated preparation time for subsequent missions.

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Scheduled evaluations include the insertion of several thermal plates in the metal parts of the ship’s rear flaps, as well as the use of altered plates and new fixing systems in the area of ​​the heat shield that surrounds the rear skirt. The aim is to gather information in flight about the various anchoring methods.

Starship will also use plates equipped with load sensors, designed to measure the voltages supported by the thermal shield during the ascent phase. In this particular mission, the spacecraft will be subjected to more intense dynamic pressure than in previous flights. This will result in greater stress on the plate attachments, in exchange for an optimized cargo transport capacity to orbit.

Complete history of previous Starship flights

• Flight 1 – April 2023:The Starship and Super Heavy exploded while still coupled, with engine failures leading to the activation of the vehicle’s self-destruction system.
• Flight 2 – November 2023:The ship managed to separate from the Super Heavy for the first time, but the booster subsequently exploded, and the Starship was lost before completing the trajectory.
• Flight 3 – March 2024:The test lasted approximately 50 minutes, marking a significant advance despite the loss of the spacecraft before the planned landing.
• Flight 4 – June 2024:Starship performed a controlled landing in the Indian Ocean, while Super Heavy descended into the Gulf of Mexico.
• Flight 5 – October 2024:SpaceX successfully captured Super Heavy by the launch tower for the first time, and Starship performed a controlled re-entry.
• Flight 6 – November 2024:The booster achieved a controlled landing, and the spacecraft was able to reignite an engine in space.
• Flight 7 – January 2025:The Starship was lost after an explosion during the testing phase.
• Flight 8 – March 2025:The upper stage lost stability about eight minutes after launch and was subsequently destroyed.
• Flight 9 – May 2025:This test marked the first reuse of a Super Heavy, but some failures prevented the full execution of the planned experiments.
• Flight 10 – August 2025:The mission achieved important objectives, such as tests with satellite simulators, engine restart in space and controlled reentry.
• Flight 11 – October 2025:Starship’s V2 phase was successfully completed, including the controlled landing of the Super Heavy, the ship’s reentry and new operational tests.
• Flight 12 – May 2026:The first test of the V3 version of Starship showed notable advances, including the launch of simulators and two modified Starlink satellites. However, the Super Heavy booster experienced a failure during return when the engines failed to reignite properly after separation.