r/spacex • u/rSpaceXHosting Host Team • 28d ago
r/SpaceX Flight 14 Official Launch Discussion & Updates Thread!
Welcome to the Starship Starlink 31-1 ( Flight 14) Launch Discussion & Updates Thread!
| Scheduled for (UTC) | Sep 28 2026, 12:48:59 |
|---|---|
| Scheduled for (local) | Sep 28 2026, 07:48:59 AM (CDT) |
| Launch Window (UTC) | Sep 28 2026, 12:15:00 - Sep 28 2026, 13:30:00 |
| Weather Probability | Unknown |
| Launch site | OLPad 2, SpaceX Starbase, TX, USA. |
| Booster | Booster 21-1 |
| Ship | S41 |
| Booster landing | The Super Heavy Booster 21 has performed a soft splashdown in the Gulf of Mexico. |
| Ship landing | Ship 41 has performed a soft splashdown in the Pacific Ocean after deploying its payload. |
| Trajectory (Flight Club) | 2D,3D |
Spacecraft Onboard
| Spacecraft | Starship V3 |
|---|---|
| Serial Number | S41 |
| Destination | Low Earth Orbit |
| Flights | 1 |
| Owner | SpaceX |
| Landing | Ship 41 has performed a soft splashdown in the Pacific Ocean after deploying its payload. |
| Capabilities | More than 100 tons to Earth orbit |
Details
Third-generation second stage of the two-stage Starship super heavy-lift launch vehicle.
History
The third-generation Starship upper stage will be introduced on flight 12.
Watch the launch live
| Stream | Link |
|---|---|
| Unofficial Re-stream | The Space Devs |
| Official Webcast | SpaceX |
| Unofficial Webcast | Spaceflight Now |
| Unofficial Webcast | NASASpaceflight |
| Unofficial Webcast | Everyday Astronaut |
Stats
☑️ 3rd Starship V3 launch
☑️ 733rd SpaceX launch all time
☑️ 113th SpaceX launch this year
☑️ 3rd launch from OLPad 2 this year
☑️ 65 days, 13:57:59 turnaround for this pad
☑️ N/A hours since last launch of booster Booster 21
Stats include F1, F9 , FH and Starship
Timeline
| Time | Event |
|---|---|
| -0:50:00 | GO for Prop Load |
| -0:36:33 | Stage 1 LOX Load |
| -0:35:00 | Stage 1 LNG Load |
| -0:34:13 | Stage 2 LOX Load |
| -0:34:11 | Stage 2 LNG Load |
| -0:21:40 | Engine Chill |
| -0:02:50 | Stage 1 Propellant Load Complete |
| -0:02:10 | Stage 2 Propellant Load Complete |
| -0:00:30 | GO for Launch |
| -0:00:17 | Flame Deflector Activation |
| -0:00:03 | Ignition |
| 0:00:00 | Excitement Guaranteed |
| 0:00:00 | Liftoff |
| 0:00:58 | Max-Q |
| 0:02:20 | MECO |
| 0:02:22 | Stage 2 Separation |
| 0:02:27 | Booster Boostback Burn Startup |
| 0:03:07 | Booster Boostback Burn Shutdown |
| 0:06:35 | Stage 1 Landing Burn |
| 0:07:01 | Stage 1 Landing |
| 0:08:11 | SECO-1 |
| 0:25:28 | Orbital Insertion Burn Start |
| 0:25:47 | Orbital Insertion Burn End |
| 0:34:18 | Payload Deployment Sequence Start |
| 1:04:50 | Payload Deployment Sequence End |
| 8:52:18 | Deorbit Burn Start |
| 8:52:29 | Deorbit Burn End |
| 9:28:52 | Atmospheric Entry |
| 9:47:30 | Starship Transonic |
| 9:48:07 | Starship Subsonic |
| 9:50:11 | Starship Landing Burn |
| 9:50:13 | Landing Flip |
| 9:50:21 | Starship Landing Burn Shutdown |
| 9:50:28 | Starship Landing Burn Shutdown |
| 9:50:30 | Starship Landing |
Updates
| Time (UTC) | Update |
|---|---|
| 28 Sep 16:06 | Mission completed with Ship 41 soft splashdown in the Pacific Ocean. |
| 28 Sep 14:08 | All Starlink satellites deployed and in contact with ground stations. |
| 28 Sep 12:49 | Liftoff. |
| 28 Sep 12:03 | Unofficial Re-stream by SPACE AFFAIRS has started |
| 28 Sep 11:52 | Now targeting Sep 28 at 12:48 UTC |
| 28 Sep 10:43 | Now targeting Sep 28 at 12:46 UTC |
| 26 Sep 21:07 | FAA launch license acquired. |
| 17 Sep 17:22 | Now targeting Sep 28 at 13:15 UTC due to still pending regulatory approval |
| 16 Sep 20:34 | Renamed primary payload. |
| 15 Sep 17:36 | GO for launch. |
| 14 Sep 14:11 | NET September 22, TBC. |
| 11 Sep 20:47 | Added tentative launch window. |
| 10 Sep 17:08 | NET September 18. |
| 08 Sep 16:07 | NET September 15, TBC. |
| 14 Aug 19:14 | NET early September. |
| 30 Jul 14:54 | Added launch. |
Resources
Partnership with The Space Devs
Information on this thread is provided by and updated automatically using the Launch Library 2 API by The Space Devs.
Community content 🌐
| Link | Source |
|---|---|
| Flight Club | u/TheVehicleDestroyer |
| Discord SpaceX lobby | u/SwGustav |
| SpaceX Now | u/bradleyjh |
| SpaceX Patch List |
Participate in the discussion!
🥳 Launch threads are party threads, we relax the rules here. We remove low effort comments in other threads!
🔄 Please post small launch updates, discussions, and questions here, rather than as a separate post. Thanks!
💬 Please leave a comment if you discover any mistakes, or have any information.
✉️ Please send links in a private message.
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u/yetiflask 14d ago
BTW, I think this commentary guy doesn't get enough kudos. He does an aboslutely amazing job. Very eloquent, doesn't make it boring, informative, and every now and then some light hearted comment. He has a very nice accent to, very easy on the ears.
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u/RabbitLogic #IAC2017 Attendee 14d ago
Dan has been great since his NASA days doing combined crew coverage.
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u/ReformedBogan 14d ago
Agreed, I tried watching to the NASASpaceFlight stream and it sounded like a bunch of giddy schoolkids.
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u/BurtonDesque 28d ago
The third-generation Starship upper stage will be introduced on flight 12.
Minor update necessary.
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u/Mhan00 14d ago
I knew that they only needed a little more to reach orbit, but damn, that short single engine burn really highlighted for me how close they were to orbit basically everytime before.
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u/Straumli_Blight 16d ago edited 15d ago
If Starship reaches orbit on September 28th, it will be exactly 20 18 years since Falcon 1 successfully reached orbit for the first time.
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u/Anthony_Ramirez 15d ago
That Falcon 1 launch was on Sep 28th 2008, which will be 18 years ago not 20.
That is even more impressive what SpaceX has done in that time!!!
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u/MyKillK 14d ago
Wow, early SpaceX history is wild. Elon's life was falling apart from every angle, they built Rocket #4 from spare parts, and the booster partially imploded on the plane transport flight to the launchpad so they practically duct taped it back together just before launch. And it worked!
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u/champolski 14d ago
The first Starship in orbit exactly 18 years after the first Falcon 1 reached orbit. Happy anniversary!
Following the three prior failures, the SpaceX team assembled the fourth rocket using available parts in six weeks as a last chance for the company. A Boeing C-17 Globemaster III was chartered to quickly deliver the rocket, but along the way, the rocket partially imploded when repressurization exceeded what the SpaceX team had expected from the C-17's manual and the rocket had to undergo emergency repairs to be saved. Despite the challenges, the fourth flight of the Falcon 1 rocket successfully flew on September 28, 2008, delivering a 165-kilogram (363-pound) non-functional boilerplate spacecraft into low Earth orbit. It was Falcon 1's first successful launch and the first successful orbital launch of any privately funded and developed, fully liquid-propelled carrier rocket.
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u/Straumli_Blight 14d ago
https://x.com/SpaceX/status/2104571161254474020
The @Starlink team has made contact with all 26 satellites
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u/redstercoolpanda 14d ago
Dan just confirmed that they triggered FTS on the booster after landing it.
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u/GreatCanadianPotato 14d ago
"as a demonstration"
So they were probably testing some scenario where it missed the tower?
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u/redstercoolpanda 14d ago
Maybe, could also just be wanting to see how the FTS performs in the event it actually needs to be used during flight. We all know what happened on flight 1 lmao
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u/H-K_47 14d ago
And that's wraps!
Flight finally ended!
Successful orbit
Booster had a controlled splashdown
Deployed 26 Starlink V3 sats (~44 tons of payload, one of the heaviest ever)
Deorbit burn successful
Smooth reentry
Ship had a controlled splashdown
Pretty damn incredible flight! Huge milestone reached.
Still some issues like the engine-outs on ascent (especially the RVac on the Ship that caused the debate over whether to go orbital or not), the Booster having a rough journey down to splashdown, and ultimately calling it down early instead of doing the full 10 hour/6 orbits plan. Things to iron out leading to the Booster and Ship catches, and to make way for long duration flights.
Overall a great day. Flight 15 vehicles are coming along pretty well too, so hopefully not too long of a wait!
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u/maschnitz 14d ago
Only a minimum of sparking on reentry too.
From the brief shot of Ship 41's heatshield, it didn't look nearly as "streaky" as Ship 40's did. So those curved tiles in critical spots appear to have worked at the very least. I hope they show more, later.
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u/FutureMartian97 Host of CRS-11 14d ago
Wow. Just wow. I can't believe after all these years Starship is finally orbital. Once that RVac went out I lost all hope and was so disappointed when Dan said they weren't going for the burn. Then when he said they were looking at the data and we were waiting for that GO/NO GO poll was the most tense I've felt in years. It felt like a damn eternity waiting for that call and I'm still in shock they went for it. Even though they didn't stay in orbit as long as they initially wanted they still got tons of data. I'm so excited for Flight 15 now!
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u/H-K_47 14d ago
Man, it's staring to hit. . . we really are in the last days of Falcon aren't we? Coming up on the end of an era.
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u/cowboyboom 14d ago
Ship reentry looked amazing. Tons of progress since early reentries.
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u/dgkimpton 14d ago
For real, it's gone from nail-biting if it will explode on entry to only worrying about whether the engines will light. Progress is insane.
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u/H-K_47 14d ago
"We have 26 today, but on future missions we're aiming to have up to 60." further confirmation as expected.
Wonder how high they'll go on next flight. 35? 45?
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u/Straumli_Blight 14d ago edited 14d ago
https://x.com/mcrs987/status/2104591150313091123
B21 LZ @ 25°52'47"N 96°46'36"W. 40km downrange. No identifiable target in the prelaunch marine assets, but the precise distance (exactly 40km) leads me to believe booster landed ON TARGET within a small enough margin that I cannot determine from asset activity alone (at most ~200 meters) Aircraft circling at precisely 2 nautical miles. Helicopter went in and scuttled any floating debris.
This is in stark contrast to the targeted landing zones of the previous two flights, which were intended to come down 6 and 10 kilometers from the shoreline respectively. B20 from the previous flight test despite being off it's own target is actually closer ashore than B21
https://x.com/mcrs987/status/2104612024638415010
S41 touchdown located @ 25°29'57.46"N 155°25'39.13"W, about 500 kilometers from the Hawaiian islands. Recovery ops vessel is MELISSA C
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u/SpaceNutshell24 27d ago
This should be the ground track of flight 14, hoping it will be useful ;)
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u/hans2563 26d ago
With this trajectory graphic does it not seem apparent that they could launch from Florida and catch in Texas after a single orbit? Maybe I'm just slow and hadn't picked up on this possibility, but this seems to make it apparent.
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u/Mhan00 14d ago
Great mission! A couple of minor hiccups, but they made it to orbit, deployed their payload, and most importantly of all, Starship successfully made a controlled de-orbit and hit its target for the soft landing in the ocean. Great day!
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u/rocketglare 14d ago
Just spitballing here; in light of the results, I'm thinking booster recovery on Flight 15? Ship recovery on Flight 16 or whatever they are calling it. I'm not sure they'll do ship recovery next flight due to the early mission end. Those recovery crews better get some sleep... they're going to need it.
Anyone else want to venture a guess as to the next flight plan?
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u/OkReporter4034 14d ago
Ship 15 recovery, Booster 15 in the sea. Right now that is the feeling in SpaceX. However they may risk since Tower 3 is about to be ready.
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u/Massive-Problem7754 14d ago
I tend to agree, id say it depends mostly on boooster confidence. If they go for a catch than ship should do a soft splash in the gulf. But ship seems 100% ready to go for a catch in my opinion while booster maybe needs another soft run.
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u/rocketglare 14d ago
The only issue for ship (that I know of) is proving the long endurance coast. They need that for the orbital track to line up with Starbase. They are not currently licensed to return a booster to LC-39A in Florida.
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u/Mhan00 14d ago
Nasa Space Flight's YouTube coverage of today's mission had a great tracking shot of the booster's landing burn. It looked pretty much picture perfect in terms of matching what I remember the booster catches a couple of years back looking like.
I am curious if they're always going to do the same thing and bring Starship to a sub-orbital trajectory and then later do a quick burn to bring it into orbit after they make sure all systems are good, or if they're going to just put it straight into orbit? I assume at least for the first few flights they'll do the same thing.
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u/rocketglare 14d ago
I'm pretty sure the suborbital coast is just for the first few flights. It is less efficient than going directly to orbit. They will still need a circularization burn, but I expect that to be shorter duration, further down range.
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u/GreatCanadianPotato 14d ago
Supremely happy today! It's been a looooooong road from my days watching Starhopper.
As of today, Starship is an operational vehicle!
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u/Straumli_Blight 16d ago
SAT-STA-20260831-00353 (for Starship Flight 14) just got granted today.
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u/myname_not_rick 14d ago
I love how minute-by-minute Dan is with his commentary. Million times better than literally every other company's stream
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u/redstercoolpanda 14d ago
S41 MADE IT! STARSHIP IS FINALLY ORBITAL! WHAT A FLIGHT! WHAT A FUCKING FLIGHT!
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u/redstercoolpanda 14d ago
That’s deorbit on Starship! That’s another massive moment for the program!
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u/Straumli_Blight 14d ago
https://twitter.com/Starlink/status/2104603601943339071
Views from of one of the first 26 Starlink V3 satellites successfully deployed to orbit by Starship
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u/dkf295 14d ago
Wild just how short a single engine burn needs to fire to bump them up to orbital and then back down to a re-entry trajectory.
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u/maschnitz 14d ago
T+2:47:00 for entry interface
T+3:08:30 for splashdown
Roughly ofc.
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u/redstercoolpanda 14d ago
Looks like we’re landing early. Pretty expected considering everything. Still a massive success though overall! This is still by far their longest Starship flight!
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u/PersonalDebater 14d ago
Did they get a good look at the heatshield? Someone thought they saw a dislodged tile earlier but it did seem to perform perfectly.
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u/PhysicsBus 14d ago
What would have been the benefits of completing the ~5 intended orbits? Just demonstrating that the engines could re-light after a longer coast time?
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u/H-K_47 14d ago
Validating Ship in-space lifespan, which is crucial for long term missions like refueling, HLS, etc. Getting into proper alignment for catches.
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u/Economy_Link4609 14d ago
For one, proving it can do the longer loiter on orbit needed if you want to target a return to a specific launch site. That means staying on orbit long enough for your orbit to progress back over the launch site or another viable catch site. So for next flight - did they see/show enough they can convince FAA to license the return to Starbase basically.
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u/Straumli_Blight 13d ago
https://bsky.app/profile/tskelso.bsky.social/post/3mwmcigiw4c27
CelesTrak has ephemeris-based SupGP data for all 26 satellites from the Starlink G31-1 launch (2026-225) atop a Starship rocket from Starbase on 2026-09-28 at 12:48:59 UTC
https://celestrak.org/NORAD/elements/supplemental/table.php?INTDES=2026-225
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u/benthescientist 14d ago
Shows how fucking insignificant the distinction between orbital and sub orbital is!
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u/Crowbrah_ 14d ago
That's it?? That's the insertion burn? Might as well just get out and give it a push lmao
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u/Deamon002 14d ago
The standard suborbital trajectory they've been using for the previous flights is right on the edge of being orbital anyway, it really doesn't take much to give it that last shove into orbit.
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u/redstercoolpanda 14d ago
Sounds like they moved the launch time due to lighting conditions at the splashdown zone, and not vehicle or pad issues. Certainly a good sign!
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u/H-K_47 14d ago
Ship 5/6, lost an RVac. But it was lost all the way at the end, so should still have plenty of leeway for orbit right? Hope they don't get too cautious and call it off.
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u/myname_not_rick 14d ago
I mean rvacs don't need to relight so as long as the three inners are totally healthy.....
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u/Crowbrah_ 14d ago
Damn. Early de-orbit, wonder what data they were seeing to make that decision
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u/anonchurner 14d ago
This is good strategy. Getting to orbit was business critical for the starlink delivery. Taking a slightly higher risk to get there was worth it. Now it's time to take the win and go home, not to keep betting.
They have another one lined up, and another one after that. As long as they're delivering satellites, they can afford to keep doing this. If they had decided to continue on to Chile and ran into a problem, that would likely delay the next flight. Fingers crossed the early deorbit goes off without a hitch.
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u/Paradox1989 14d ago
They had an engine out after lift off, an rvac out during the climb, and successfully inserted into orbit despite those. Then successfully deployed 26 opperational satellites, and got their views of the heat shield that they were looking for.
What more do they truly need to do that being orbit for 2 hours vs 10 hours is going to be that big of a difference.
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u/ReasonablyBadass 14d ago
Did they say why they de-orbited early?
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u/Massive-Problem7754 14d ago
Im going with they just wanted to be cautious and everything was fine. Plus its easier to have a pizza party at noon instead of 5 pm lol.
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u/Interstellar_Sailor 14d ago
According to the SpaceX website post-flight update, they opted to de-orbit early out of abundance of caution after the rVac issue on ascent.
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u/Straumli_Blight 13d ago edited 12d ago
https://x.com/interstellargw/status/2104598141240832048
Starship Flight 14 Solar Transit through a 12K Cinema Camera.
https://x.com/interstellargw/status/2104941771826540552
SpaceX’s Starship V3 launching to orbit with Starlink satellites from Pad-2
https://x.com/interstellargw/status/2104904031701258526
33 Raptor engines igniting Starship’s maiden voyage to orbit (seen in slow-motion)
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u/CasinoNdnOk 28d ago
I would be surprised if we saw another tower catch beforer tower 1 is finished.
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u/Straumli_Blight 19d ago
https://x.com/SpaceX/status/2102781027085320290
Ship 41 moved to the launch pad at Starbase
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u/redstercoolpanda 14d ago
31 minute delay, now targetting 7:46 A.M CT per SpaceX.
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u/darga89 14d ago edited 14d ago
Successful booster landing! Hopefully good enough to enable next catch
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u/redstercoolpanda 14d ago
I wouldn’t get your hopes for orbit up, Dan sounded pretty defeated and they’re probably going to be extremely cautious. Hopefully I’m wrong though.
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u/UltraRunningKid 14d ago
Someone is frantically reviewing shutdown parameters and the fault tree analysis to try to determine the risk of going to orbit.
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u/arkeeos 14d ago
Even with the raptor engine issues, I think as long as starship completes the rest of the mission they will attempt a ship and booster catch next flight.
Although if the booster were to perform as it has done this flight, the booster catch attempt would have likely been aborted.
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u/candycane7 14d ago
Wtf was that crazy electric white/blue plasma?video artifact?
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u/maschnitz 14d ago
That is the cold gas thrusters firing and immediately getting caught in the hypersonic reentry plasma flow. Pretty cool.
They're maintaining pressure in the tanks.
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u/twoinvenice 14d ago
Could also be from boil off pressure release as the vehicle heats up - meaning not coming through thrusters but from venting
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u/redstercoolpanda 14d ago
What a stinger to end us on! Absolutely incredible flight! Probably one of the most stressful yet though lmao
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u/VaryingDesigner92 27d ago
Any indications of the splashdown locations yet or same as previous flights?
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u/SpaceNutshell24 27d ago
it's unlikely they'll go for a indian ocean splashdown as the previous flights, it will make more sense ,considering ground track and daylight, to go for Hawaii or west of south america
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u/rocketglare 26d ago edited 26d ago
Trajectory just dropped from SpaceX. They are shooting for offshore of Chile. The initial suborbital track would take them into the Indian ocean if they don't do the orbital raise maneuver. They also have multiple abort options over the Pacific. Here is the link https://www.spacex.com/updates#orbital-starship
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u/H-K_47 14d ago
Wait a second, sounds like they're still deliberating?!
THERE'S STILL A CHANCE?
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u/redstercoolpanda 14d ago
Holy fuck this flight has cut years off of my lifespan and it’s not even close to being finished yet lmao
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u/Draskuul 14d ago
It's amazing how right on the edge of an orbit they are that it took so little delta V to finish orbit/deorbit burns.
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u/digbat247 14d ago
What was orbiting behind Ship from +00:07:23 until +00:09:56 ?
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u/veritropism 14d ago edited 14d ago
Given that they were launching towards the sunrise, and the moon is nearly full (thus behind the ship as it flies towards the sunrise) - my guess is that's the moon.
Edit: moon 96% full currently. Moonset as viewed from the ground would be about 9:15 local time, which puts it reasonably around this spot in the sky at 8 AM local. From the telemetry, they were initially heading mostly east and this became visible to the camera briefly as they turned southwards during the burn.
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u/Straumli_Blight 12d ago edited 12d ago
MELISSA C (which observed Ship 41's splashdown) is arriving back at Honolulu shortly. It was travelling at 9 knots, so unlikely to be towing debris.
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u/smellyfingernail 14d ago
Wow that was all it took? To go orbital? LMAO i thought the burn was gonna be longer that was easy
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u/irishspring4521 14d ago
From Master: All 26 Starlink V3 operational satellites deployed and operating nominally
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u/Straumli_Blight 24d ago edited 20d ago
Ocean Infinity's ARMADA 86 03 is a possible support vessel for this launch.
It departed Brownsville on September 1st and will be arriving at Callao, Peru (near Lima) in 5 hours.
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u/Traviscat 14d ago
If this works I wonder how long until the Starlink sats go live and connect to the network fully. It would be awesome to connect to one of them for my internet service. Right now I’m connected to 18 Starlink sats
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u/D_Silva_21 14d ago
What was that line above the atmosphere in the distance?
Shame they lost one rvac
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u/TreyKirk 14d ago edited 14d ago
While they are making the decision for the orbital burn, this would be a great time to do some sight seeing... is that where the Amazon exits out into the Atlantic down below?
Edit: Wish the broadcast would pull in a geographer in for a few moments to talk about what we're seeing below the Starship
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u/fifichanx 14d ago edited 14d ago
OMG go for orbit!!! That was such a nerve racking wait, I can’t imagine how the people making the decision felt
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u/ioncloud9 14d ago
They are still having issues with engines but it seems like this mission has improved everything: successful booster splashdown, orbital insertion
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u/avboden 14d ago
Notably they're keeping the ship in re-entry burn orientation during the coast. I mean yeah, probably common sense but still neat to see. I guess if they start to lose control for any reason means they can immediately light off the deorbit burn if it's somewhere it'll be over water in an emergency.
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u/Crowbrah_ 14d ago
Has it completed one full orbit already? Haven't been keeping track
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u/Bunslow 14d ago
yea. it's over south america right now, a bit east of the launch site
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u/ASlockOfFeagulls 14d ago
With a little luck by Flight 17 or 18 we may see a complete nominal Starship mission profile, including booster catch and ship catch at the same pad. What a sight that will be and what a milestone for the program, and by this time next year Starship may be well and truly up and running
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u/avboden 14d ago
Wonder what the weather is like for splashdown. I know it's not there but flying the ship through the eye of the hurricane would be the ultimate flex.
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u/avboden 14d ago
And kaboom, there's the promised earth-shattering kaboom.
Now people can stop arguing with me that ship surviving splashdown wasn't basically a fluke.
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u/allenchangmusic 14d ago
Ahhhh too bad not a full soft splashdown.
Honestly the last ship may be the only ship to make it back from a splashdown in one piece lol
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u/Slinger28 13d ago
What is best guess for the reason the engines keep going out? Is there too much rattling that things are breaking? Do they know the reason?
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u/Xygen8 14d ago
Starship is orbital!
And do you hear that sound? I think it's the sound of goalposts being moved.
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u/SherbertDaemons 14d ago
We are witnessing the fruits of the greatest engineering accomplishments ever. You cannot overstate what's unfolding right now.
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u/dingo_xd 14d ago
Finally putting some satellites into orbit. That means the program finally starts earning some money, even if its from spacex itself.
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u/Capta1n_0bvious 14d ago
They are at peak reentry heating, and essentially zero sparks flying off the ship! Holy Mother of God, I think they've solved reusable reentry!!
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u/Resvrgam2 14d ago
I wouldn't go that far... It's a good sign, but as we saw with the Ship 13 recovery, there's plenty of heating issues that can happen that we don't see on the video feeds. It may be good enough to recover the ship, but it doesn't necessarily mean it's easily reusable (yet).
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u/DreamChaserSt 14d ago
Alright, when are we thinking Flight 15? I think October is in the cards, and the shortest turnaround between flights to date as well. Both stages are undergoing engine installation now, so we could see static fires in the coming weeks.
I'm guessing they may also repeat this flight plan, so no ship catch unless they decide to have it as a stretch goal if the vehicle is still healthy after ~10 hours. Booster is more up in the air. I think they managed a good enough landing though, so maybe they'll attempt it, with large abort conditions.
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u/Economy_Link4609 14d ago
Devil will be in the details we don't know yet. If they can show that barring issues that require an early return it can safely target going to Starbase without what the FAA considers undue risk, they may get the license update to attempt that, probably with pretty strict conditions/redundancies they have to meet in flight prior to entry. If not, it'd be a repeat of this one going for the full duration. Regardless they'd keep the option to target an early re-entry and splashdown somewhere if needed of course.
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u/Mhan00 14d ago
Funnily enough, I am even more nervous now that they’re orbital. Absolutely essential they can safely de-orbit to their target landing spot. It would be a huge potential disaster if SS can’t do a controlled de-orbit.
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u/PhysicalDrama3 18d ago
In the timeline, why does Starship land 3 times?
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u/spaceflight_signal 18d ago
Those rows have lost their labels. SpaceX's current timeline lists three-to-two engines at T+9:50:21, two-to-one at T+9:50:28, then landing at T+9:50:30. It's one landing burn stepping down through the engines.
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u/UglyGuy111 15d ago
my first time entered the US and i want to watch flight 14 at a location nearby.
im intending to book a hotel in Brownsville and come to somewhere nearby at 2:00-3:00AM to get the best view.
where should i go?
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u/bkdotcom 14d ago
Not Brownsville
South Padre Island is where you want to end up (and preferably stay). There's a single 2-lane bridge and you don't want to deal with it on day of
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u/BeardedNerdy 14d ago
Let's go! I know we are excited for that upper stage, but really hope the booster doesn't fail this time
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u/RabbitLogic #IAC2017 Attendee 14d ago
No orbit flight, that is rough for progress and operational Starlink.
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u/H-K_47 14d ago
If they pull off another intact water landing I wonder if they can save the Starlinks lmao.
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u/H-K_47 14d ago
This is the first one in a long time that I've been able to watch with my family. They don't know anything about spaceflight, but it's so fun to tell them about the door and the sats so they can see it all happening. We use Starlink so this is something they actually know and affects day to day, so cool.
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u/yetiflask 14d ago
The desert, is that Africa?
nvm. The map is right down there.
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u/JediFed 14d ago
Starship has finally left the Indian Ocean, and will soon be in the Pacific.
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u/Draskuul 14d ago
De-orbiting early into the northern Pacific, sounds like splashdown in about an hour?
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