SpaceX Starship Flight 9: The Redemption — what should you expect?
Booster 14-2 and Ship 35 on the Orbital Launch Mount, awaiting launch (SpaceX)
Article Authors: KYNNMASTER 123 and Magnum for TWS: The Weekly Spaceman!
After weeks of doubts and patience, the wait is finally over: SpaceX has finally confirmed a launch date for Flight 9 of Starship, which is NET (Not Earlier Than) May 27, 2025, at 23:30 UTC! This test flight will feature the first Booster reuse, a series of experiments both with the Booster and Ship, and the redemption of Block 2 Ships, which will determine the future of the Starship program! Read to find out everything about it:
SpaceX is gearing up to launch the 9th Test Flight of its Starship rocket, which aims to test new objectives in its mission. Designated by the mission name Starship Flight 9, this mission will launch on the stated date and times above. The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has approved license modifications for this 9th test flight. The FAA recently approved the accident investigation findings for Starship Flight 8’s mishap investigation. They also determined that SpaceX has implemented all the changes required to help prevent a similar failure in this next flight, which authorizes them to launch Starship Flight 9.
While the hype continues for this next Starship flight, what’s new about this flight that causes people to get excited once more? What actions should they take to resolve the issues from the previous flight? What booster and ship combo is flying on this flight, and what are the current plans for reuse?
Table of Contents
This article is a deep dive, so expect it to be very long. But for those who want to browse quickly through the contents of this article, here is a table of contents page for you. Click on the specific part you are curious about and enjoy reading!
Looking back
Before we officially start this article, if you are curious about what occurred on Starship Flight 8 - which can be helpful for you to learn about why these things are happening for Starship Flight 9, Magnum has the article for you, which can be clicked here, still on The Weekly Spaceman! Read more and you'll know more!
First Reuse of a Super Heavy Booster — Booster 14-2
SpaceX plans to use Booster 14-2 (Super Heavy) as the first stage for this mission, which will boost the Starship spacecraft toward space. As one may remember, Booster 14-2 has flown previously during the 7th flight of Starship, which consisted of the 2nd successful catch attempt of a Super Heavy booster by the Mechazilla catch arms in Starbase Orbital Launch Pad A. Despite being the second catch of a Super Heavy booster, no one expected the rocket to be reused so quickly, given that this rocket is still relatively new.
After its launch and landing on January 17, 2025, SpaceX moved swiftly, and Booster 14-2 underwent a series of refurbishments, all behind the doors of the Megabay. No one expected reuse to be possible, but we all know that SpaceX will check the Booster’s status, knowing that the data would still be necessary for full and rapid reusability. Approximately two and a half months (74 days) later, SpaceX rolled Booster 14-2 to the launchpad and static-fired it on April 2, 2025, in preparation for its second flight. SpaceX confirmed that it will reuse this Booster in the future, reusing 29 of its 33 Raptor engines for this mission.
SpaceX has rolled the Booster back to the launch site and prepared it for flight, but it has also rolled it back into Megabay. No one still knows the exact reason, but we assure you that the next flight is close. Many indicators are present in preparation for this next flight despite the stated rollback, which we will discuss later.
Update: As of May 25, 2025, Booster 14 has been rolled out again to the launch site, possibly the final time it will do so. It was then placed back on the Orbital Launch Mount (OLM), with Ship 35 already stacked above it.
History of Booster 14-2
Booster 14 being caught on Starship Flight 7. Credit: Bocachicagal
Here is an in-depth recap from Magnum for those who are curious about the journey of Booster 14-2 from its start until the present.
2024
February 9, 2024: Booster 14 aft tank #2 is spotted.
February 15, 2024: Booster 14 stacking begins in Megabay 1 after B14 A2:4 and B14 CX:4 rolled inside in the past few days.
April 26, 2024: Booster 14 stacking is completed in only 71 days, beating the previous record (Booster 13, 151 days) by more than half.
October 3, 2024: Booster 14 is rolled to Massey’s for its cryogenic test campaign.
October 4, 2024: Cryo test 1 of Booster 14’s CH4 tank.
October 5, 2024: Cryo test 2 of both tanks of Booster 14.
October 7, 2024: Booster 14 is rolled back to the Production Site.
December 5, 2024: Booster 14 is rolled to the Launch Site.
December 7, 2024: Spin Prime: maybe SpaceX decided to verify everything was working after skipping it on Booster 13, or perhaps it’s related to the installation of R314.
December 9, 2024: Static fire 1: successful static fire of all 33 Raptor engines, with a burn that lasted 9 seconds.
December 10, 2024: Booster 14 is rolled back to the Production Site.
December 30, 2024: Booster 14 is rolled to the Launch Site for launch.
2025
January 9, 2025: Ship 33 is stacked atop Booster 14.
January 10, 2025: the whole stack conducts a Wet Dress Rehearsal.
January 16, 2025: Booster 14 launches for the first time, carrying Ship 33 into a suborbital trajectory during Flight Test 7. It then returns to the Launch Site and is successfully caught on Pad A! The same day, it is placed back on the OLM and later brought back to the Production Site.
April 1, 2025: After 75 days of refurbishment inside Megabay 1, where SpaceX thoroughly inspected the hardware, Booster 14 rolled to the launch site for its qualification campaign.
April 3, 2025: Static fire 2: Booster 14 conducts the first-ever static fire of a flight-proven Booster, lasting 8 seconds and seemingly nominal.
April 8, 2025: Booster 14 rolled back to Megabay 1.
April 16, 2025: Booster 14 received its HSR (Hot Staging Ring).
May 13, 2025: Booster 14 is rolled to the launch site for its second launch.
May 17, 2025: Booster 14 is rolled back to Megabay 1, either due to booster problems or ship-related delays.
May 25, 2025: Booster 14 is rolled to the launch site for its second launch.
Superheavy’s “Partner in Crime” — Ship 35
For this mission, SpaceX plans to use Ship 35 (Starship Spacecraft) for the second stage, which will continue its way to space and perform a controlled splashdown in the Indian Ocean. This Starship flight is currently the third vehicle in the line of all Version 2 (V2) Starships that flew in the past flights, which all, unfortunately, had their own set of Rapid Unscheduled Disassemblies while on their way to their destination. Based on the plans known as of today, this Starship will follow the same planned trajectories made by its predecessors to attempt to retest whatever failed in the past two consecutive Starship V2 flights.
Ship 35 has completed its testing, starting from 2 cryogenic-proof tests that occurred on March 12 and 13, 2025. These tests ensure the spacecraft has the structural integrity required once the cryogenics are inside the tanks. After placing the necessary components for its static fire, such as its engines, SpaceX proceeded with a single-engine static fire on May 1, 2025, to demonstrate an in-space burn. SpaceX increased the number of engines a day later and performed a six-engine static fire. Despite not having proper confirmation from SpaceX, this attempt had an anomaly, as several flashes on the aft of the Ship were known to not be nominal in previous testing. Some have said that SpaceX might have been trying to replicate an issue it faced in past Starship flights, which were Flight 7 and 8. These flights experienced a similar problem to the test that occurred here, which started at the engine section. The static fire lasted for 30 seconds, half less than the previous 1-minute static fire they had done on the previous ship. After testing, it returned to the production site so that SpaceX teams could check the Ship’s status and fix whatever broke on this anomaly.
After SpaceX resolved all issues, Ship 35 returned to the Massey Outpost to reattempt its six-engine static fire, which it did on May 12, 2025. The test lasted 60 seconds, the standard duration for recent ship tests. This test seemed nominal as the Ship rolled back to the Production Site in preparation for the 9th flight test of Starship.
Update: The team has removed at least one Raptor engine from Ship 35 and rolled it back to the Massey Outpost to reattempt the test. As of May 22, 2025, the Ship attempted a test, but SpaceX appears to have scrubbed it later. SpaceX reached out to test the same day, and Ship 35 performed a Spin Prime Test.
Update 2: The Ship has returned to the Production Site and received the dummy Starlink simulators for its payload deployment testing. According to SpaceX, eight Starlink simulator satellites will be installed on this vehicle and deployed in space on the same suborbital trajectory as the Starship during its mission. The Ship has been rolled out and stacked above the Booster, and it is awaiting launch.
History of Ship 35
Ship 35’s six-engine static fire at the Massey’s Test Site (SpaceX)
For those who are curious about the journey of Ship 35 from the start until the present, here is an in-depth recap from Magnum.
2024
December 3, 2024: S35’s nosecone is spotted with both forward flaps attached.
December 10, 2024: S35 begins stacking in MB2.
2025
February 3, 2025: S35 completes stacking in 55 days.
March 10, 2025: S35 is rolled to Massey’s for cryo testing.
March 11, 2025: Cryo test 1: S35 conducts a cryo test of both tanks.
March 12, 2025: Cryo test 2: S35 conducts a cryo test of both tanks.
March 12, 2025: Cryo test 3: S35 conducts a cryo test of both tanks.
March 13, 2025: S35 is rolled back to MB2 for engine installation.
April 28, 2025: S35 rolls to Massey’s for static fire testing.
April 29, 2025: Aborted static fire attempt #1: S35 aborts a single-engine SF attempt.
April 30, 2025: Static fire 1: S35 ignites 1 SL engine for 5 seconds.
May 1, 2025: Failed static fire 2: S35 attempts to do a 60-s static fire; however, its engines shut down after 30 s due to an issue with the RVacs.
May 2, 2025: S35 is rolled back to MB2 for repairs.
May 10, 2025: Following repairs, S35 will be rolled back to Massey’s for a long-duration SF.
May 11, 2025: Aborted static fire attempt #2: S35 aborts an SF a few seconds before ignition.
May 12, 2025: Static fire 3: S35 conducts a 64-second-long SF of all its 6 Raptor engines, with the RVacs cutting off 5 seconds before total cut-off.
May 13, 2025: S35 rolled back to MB2.
May 21, 2025: Following at least 1 RVac swap, S35 will be rolled to Massey’s for the 4th time for additional testing.
May 22, 2025: Aborted spin prime attempt #1: S35 aborts a spin prime attempt.
May 23, 2025: Spin Prime 1: S35 conducts a spin prime.
May 23, 2025: S35 rolls back to the production site.
May 25, 2025: S35 receives all 8 of its Starlink simulators for flight.
No catch attempt
In a shocking twist of events, after two consecutive successful booster catch attempts, the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has confirmed that SpaceX did not ask for authorization for a catch attempt in Starbase. Observers first noted the modification in the license update for Starship Flight 9, and NASASpaceflight later confirmed it on X (formerly Twitter). Since that is the case, it has been concluded that SpaceX has made this decision by themselves, which they have confirmed on their website for Starship Flight 9. They said that the booster for this flight test is attempting several flight experiments to gather more data during the worst-case scenarios that Super Heavy may experience.
Some of the items that will be tested on this flight include controlling the booster’s flip direction, which allows SpaceX to flip the booster in a known direction, requiring less fuel for such a maneuver and more payload to orbit. The booster will also fly at a higher angle of attack, which increases the atmospheric drag on the vehicle when returning to the launch site, allowing less fuel required for the landing burn and improving the performance of future vehicles. Finally, Super Heavy’s engine-out capability in the last phase of the landing burn was tested using two center engines and a backup engine from the middle ring to complete the landing burn. It will then transition to only two center engines, which will shut down while the vehicle is still above the Gulf of Mexico or Gulf of America - depending on how you call it. This change will then cause Booster 14 to make a hard splashdown, all of which is expected in this flight.
These tests will help them refine their landing process, which they can apply to future flights to prevent a bigger failure beforehand. Through the tests that will occur for this flight, they can learn how to counteract such worst-case scenarios in the future. This capability also makes landings more efficient, allowing the booster to use less fuel for the maneuvers it requires and allowing SpaceX to send more payloads to orbit and beyond.
Safety standards increased
In the wake of consecutive Starship test flight anomalies during the 7th and 8th flights, SpaceX and the FAA have also increased the safety standards for the upcoming Starship Flight 9. SpaceX also expanded because they plan to use a previously launched Super Heavy booster for the first time, done for safety reasons. They did this by expanding the airspace and maritime hazard closures, which have officially extended to the Bahamas and the Turks and Caicos during this flight.
These extensions will help make this launch safer in the areas it will pass through from above, which will also help lessen complexities in the airspace and marine space management. Here is a summary of the comparison between the closures present for this flight and the previous closures present. Note that all distances are estimates based on the documents the FAA gave, but despite the forecast, there is still a significant change in the stated closures.
Past Flights (1–6): Hazard zones were primarily confined to the Gulf of Mexico for boosters and the Pacific or Indian Oceans for upper stages. Debris from failures (e.g., Flights 1–3) remained within these zones, with no significant Caribbean impact reported. Hazard zones were primarily local (Gulf, 30 miles) and distant oceanic for the Starship recovery portions, with no Caribbean coverage.
Flights 7 and 8: Hazard zones included the Gulf of Mexico and the Indian Ocean, but unexpected debris fallout in the Caribbean (Turks and Caicos, Bahamas) due to upper-stage failures expanded the effective impact area, leading to Debis Response Areas (DRA) activations and airspace disruptions. For Flight 8, the AHA covered approximately 885 nautical miles. Due to debris fallout, the effective hazard area was expanded to ~1,300 miles, though the planned zones remained similar to earlier flights.
Flight 9: The Aircraft Hazard Area (AHA) is the largest in rocket launch history, explicitly including Starbase, Texas, launch site through the Straits of Florida, including the Bahamas and Turks & Caicos Islands, and the Gulf of Mexico and Indian Ocean, which reflects SpaceX’s and FAA’s proactive response to the Caribbean debris incidents from Flights 7 and 8 and SpaceX’s intention to reuse a Super Heavy booster for the first time.
More testing is required for Starship
Unfortunately, to this day, Starship V2 still hasn’t had an entirely successful flight, and it has failed two times in a row since its very first flight on Starship Flight 7. But that is what testing is for, as it will help them attain a successful flight very soon. Since this will be the third, and hopefully, first, successful flight of this specific Starship version, more tests are still required to see a successful Starship V2 finally up in space.
Aside from reusing a Super Heavy booster for the first time and testing it to its limits, SpaceX will have to test several things that the previous Starship V2s have not yet done. Ship 35 will attempt to reach the second stage engine cut-off (SECO), a portion that the previous Starship V2s have not yet reached since the past two failures. It will also plan to deploy eight dummy Starlink simulator satellites to test the payload dispenser of the rocket. The test also focuses on testing the ship’s ability to return to the launch site, which requires removing heatshield tiles and adding other metallic tile options, as well as adding active cooling as the alternative materials stated. The ship will be intentionally stressed to its limits during its reentry and moment of maximum entry dynamic pressure to gather more data on the limits of this rocket.
Regulatory papers are ready
Checklist of SpaceX’s preparations for flight (Next Spaceflight)
As SpaceX prepares for Starship Flight 9, all the involved regulatory agencies have signed the paperwork required for this launch. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has granted final clearance, confirming that SpaceX has satisfactorily addressed the issues from Flight 8’s mishap. Additionally, the FAA has expanded the hazard zones and adjusted launch protocols to enhance safety measures. The Next Spaceflight tracker by NASASpaceflight also indicates that all regulatory requirements, including Temporary Flight Restrictions (TFRs), Notices to Air Missions (NOTAMs), and Notices to Mariners (NOTMARs), are in place, signaling full readiness for the upcoming launch.
The Booster was placed on the Orbital Launch Mount, and the Ship was stacked on top of it soon after, making the vehicles ready for flight. With all regulatory checks completed, Starship Flight 9 is scheduled to launch no earlier than May 27, 2025, at 6:30 PM CDT. The mission will utilize Booster 14 and Ship 35, marking a significant step forward in SpaceX’s Starship program.
Flight profile of Flight 9
Starship Flight 9’s whole mission profile (SpaceX)
If successful, Flight 9 promises to be very interesting, with many new things on both the Booster and the Ship. Magnum has the in-depth details right here.
Pre-launch countdown
Final preparations for launch start at T-12h, when SpaceX’s countdown clock begins ticking in the Mission Control room. It’s at this point that they decide whether to proceed or not with the flight. If they choose to proceed, the following hours are full of checks, inspections, and final touches before the tank farm starts spooling up at T-7h, which means that the lines will begin to get colder, and we’re going to see much venting in the area. At T-6/5h, we usually see the chopsticks go into catch position at the top of the tower, but since there’s no catch this time, it’s unclear where they’ll go, although it’s likely that they’ll get the same position.
By T-4h, the pad needs to be clear. However, we have seen workers overstaying to troubleshoot an issue or check things out more thoroughly, so don’t worry if you see workers at the pad after this point. Still, by T-2h, the pad needs to be clear because two necessary vents are about to come up back-to-back: the OLM vent, coming from the OLM, to chill the lines that bring propellant from the ground tanks to the Super Heavy Booster, and a Tower vent coming from the tower to chill the lines that bring propellant to the ship. These vents are a sign that SpaceX is heading into the terminal countdown.
Then, it will get genuine: at T-1h15m, SpaceX’s Launch Director will verify the GO/NO-GO for propellant load, and if they’re given a GO, then they’re going to start loading propellants on the vehicles, starting with Ship LOX (liquid oxygen) load at T-51m37s and Ship LCH4 (liquid methane) load at T-45m20s, which are 5m38s and 2m21s earlier than Flight 8’s, respectively (where earlier means earlier into the countdown, farther from T0); this will be followed by the booster’s methane load at T-41m37s and LOX load at T-35m52s, which are just 15 and 17 seconds earlier than Flight 8’s.
At T-19m40s, all the Raptor engines on the vehicle will begin to chill down, which means that cold propellant will be passed through their turbomachinery to cool them down and avoid thermal shock at ignition; the closeouts of propellant load will follow this at T-3m20s for the Ship and T-2m50s for the Booster.
At T-40s, a hold can be used if there are problems (like it was used on Flight 8), but if everything’s green, then they’ll continue with the countdown. At T-30s, SpaceX’s flight director will give the GO for launch, and at T-10s, the Water Deluge System will activate, releasing a massive amount of water to protect the launchpad; finally, at T-3s, there will be ignition: the ignition sequence for Super Heavy is quite interesting, as it ignites its inner 13 engines first at T-2s, followed by 15 of the outer engines at T-1s, and finally the last five engines at T0.
Flight timeline
Booster 14 will ignite its 33 Raptor engines and lift off from Pad A at Starbase, Texas, marking the first launch of a reused Super Heavy Booster! At T+1m2s, there will be Max-Q, which is the point of peak mechanical stress on the rocket (given from the increasing velocity of the launch vehicle and the decreasing atmospheric pressure), and Starship will keep ascending after that; then, as the rocket gets further downrange and higher up, there will be separation, starting at T+2m35s with Booster MECO (Most Engines Cut Off), where the booster cuts off 30 out of its 33 Raptor engines; this event is followed 2 seconds later by hot staging, where Ship 35 will ignite its engines while still attached to Booster 14 and then separate immediately after.
At this point, Booster 14 will shut off some vents on its hot stage adapter to be pushed in a known direction based on the thrust of Starship’s engines. Previously, the booster was moved in a randomized direction and then corrected itself. This way, less propellant can be used, so more can go into pushing Starship.
While Starship rides to its suborbital trajectory, Booster 14 will ignite 13 of its Raptor engines to conduct a boost back from T+2m47s to T+3m27s; there WON’T be a GO/NO-GO catch callout because THERE WILL BE NO CATCH since Booster 14 will be expended to stress test it, so let’s see how: following the end of the boost back burn, Booster 14 will jettison its Hot Stage Ring and position itself for descent with a higher angle of attack, so more inclined, which will allow more aerodynamic friction and a slower speed at landing burn, allowing it to save more propellant.
And then, the final test will occur at landing burn, where Booster 14 will purposefully ignite 12 out of its 13 engines, leaving 1 of the three center engines not ignited; when the inner ring of 10 shuts off, one of them will stay lit to provide a backup capability in case of a center engine failure. Lastly, this engine will be shut down, leaving Booster 14 to conduct the final phase of its landing burn with just two engines, which will be shut down at a certain height from the water to allow a hard splashdown of the booster and ensure its destruction. Meanwhile, a critical moment will arrive, something that no one would’ve thought would be here at this stage of Starship development:
Will Ship 35 make it to SECO? Let’s really hope that it does. It should reach SECO at T+8m56s, 12s later than Flight 8’s… It could be possible that the RVacs will shut down earlier, but this is all speculation.
If Ship 35 makes it to SECO, it will conduct a series of experiments that it didn’t get to perform during the past two flights: first of all, Ship 35 will deploy its first payload, consisting of 8 Starlink V3 simulators, at T+18m26s; the payloads will be deployed in pairs, and they will reenter the atmosphere along with the ship since their only goal is to test the Ship’s PEZ dispenser and payload bay door in space. About 20 minutes later, at T+37m49s, Ship 35 will attempt to ignite one of its sea-level Raptor engines in space, possibly the last qualification test before being sent to orbit.
At T+47m50s, it will begin atmospheric reentry, validating a few things: a bunch of tiles have been removed in pairs in several locations on the heatshield to stress test the vehicle during reentry heating; some of the tiles installed on the heatshield are metallic to determine which material is the best, while one is equipped with active cooling (a proposal that, apparently, is back on the table). Ship 35 will also validate the catch pins’ ability to withstand forces and heating during reentry, and the smoothed and tapered edge of the heatshield will give insights as to how much the ship can take. During the point of Max-Q during descent, the ship’s inclination will stress test the aft flaps to their maximum.
If Ship 35 gets through all of this, we will be in for a beautiful show: it will start heading into sunlight while it descends into a thicker and thicker atmosphere until it will attempt a landing burn, starting with a landing flip at T+1h6m11s, followed by the landing burn 5 seconds later, culminating in an exciting landing at T+1h6m38s!
This procedure will wrap up Flight 9, which will be the best Starship launch yet.
Where to watch the launch?
The Starship launch can be seen in person or via a live stream: the first thing you need to do is check SpaceX’s website and mission page for any updates, as the schedule may change due to issues. Starship will launch from Starbase, Boca Chica, Texas, so if you’re near those locations, I suggest getting down there immediately; amazing places to watch the launch are South Padre Island, Rocket Ranch, or Banana River, and you will be able to stay in hotels in the area. But suppose you can’t make it in person. In that case, don’t worry because there are plenty of live streams that you can see: NasaSpaceFlight (NSF) will conduct a stakeout live stream starting at T-10h, with their dedicated launch livestream beginning at T-4h. Apart from that, there are many livestreams from LabPadre, Interstellar Gateway, and many more, but beware of SpaceX scams on YT. SPACEX DOES NOT STREAM ON YOUTUBE. However, SpaceX will begin their official stream in T-40 minutes, which will be visible only on their X site.
And don’t forget to check our page for the article that will recap how this flight went!
The road to making us multi-planetary
Elon Musk will be giving a live presentation at 11:55 AM CDT, 16:55 UTC, on the SpaceX website and X page: this live stream is titled “The Road to Make Us Multi-planetary,” and it will likely include updates on Booster and Ship development and plans, Moon and Mars plans, possibly including the definitive launch plans for Starship towards Mars; Elon Musk had in fact said previously that they intend to send a bunch of uncrewed Starships to Mars at the end of 2026 and use those to test the performance of the vehicle.
But whatever it is, it will be a massive update, and thanks to our writer, Logan, we will have a recap article ready.
This is KYNNMASTER 123 and Magnum for The Weekly Spaceman, see you next time! 😁
