SpaceX fires up Starship spacecraft again ahead of 9th test flight (video, photos)
SpaceX’s latest Starship vehicle has breathed fire yet again.
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The company performed a long-duration “static fire” test with a Starship upper stage at its Starbase site in South Texas on Monday (May 12).
SpaceX ignited all six of the171-foot-tall (52-meter-tall) vehicle’s Raptor engines during the trial, which lasted about 60 seconds.
SpaceX conducts a long-duration static fire test with a Starship upper stage on May 12, 2025 ahead of the vehicle’s upcoming test flight. (Image credit: SpaceX)
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It was the third static fire for this particular vehicle, which “is undergoing final preparations for the ninth flight test,” according to a Tuesday (May 13) SpaceX post on X that shared a video and photos of the trial.
The company has not yet announced a target date for Flight 9, but it could happen in the next few weeks. SpaceX has already performed a static fire with the first-stage booster that will launch on the mission.
A view at the Flight 9 upper stage’s engines during the May 12 static fire. (Image credit: SpaceX)
Starship, which stands 403.5 feet (123 meters) tall when fully stacked, is the biggest and most powerful rocket ever built. Both of its elements — the Super Heavy booster and Starship (or just Ship) upper stage — are designed to be fully and rapidly reusable.
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SpaceX believes that Starship’s combination of brawn and reusability will make Mars settlement — a long-held dream of company founder Elon Musk — economically feasible at long last.
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SpaceX hasn’t announced a target launch date for Flight 9 yet. (Image credit: SpaceX)
Starship has eight test flights under its belt, two of which have occurred this year.
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Both of the 2025 flights — which lifted off in January and March, respectively — had similar outcomes. Super Heavy performed well and came back to Starbase for a successful catch by the launch tower’s “chopstick” arms. But the Ship upper stage had issues on both occasions, exploding less than 10 minutes into flight.
Monday’s long-duration Ship static fire seemed to go well, but we’ll see soon enough if SpaceX has indeed worked out the kinks with the big upper stage.
