Starship test flights — the story so far

From the pad-shattering first flight to chopstick catches — the trial-and-error chronicle of the largest rocket ever built.

The story

On 20 April 2023 the first flight of a complete Starship rose from Boca Chica, Texas, shattering the concrete of its own launch pad, and broke apart four minutes later. With several of its 33 engines out it began to tumble and was destroyed by command; SpaceX called it data rather than failure, and the history since has gone some way to proving the point.

Flight 2 (November 2023) separated its stages and then lost both to explosions; Flight 3 (March 2024) approached orbital velocity and reached re-entry; Flight 4 (June 2024) brought both booster and ship to soft splashdowns. Then on Flight 5, 13 October 2024, the 70 m booster was caught in mid-air by the launch tower's robotic arms — the "chopstick catch".

Later flights have tested orbital-class re-entry and vehicle reuse one step at a time. In 2025 a run of upper-stage break-ups during re-entry brought in the revised V2 design, and a booster flew for a second time. The rocket's goal is Mars, and it is also the lunar lander for Artemis III.

Behind the chronology is the "hardware-rich" philosophy — flying prototypes freely to buy data, so that the failure videos are themselves the development log. Its contrast with traditional development, years of design before a first flight, is also an argument about method across the space industry. Flight 14 is covered in a separate article.

Why it matters

Starship is the largest rocket ever built (121 m tall, 7,500 tonnes of thrust) and the first orbital rocket designed from the start for full reuse. If it succeeds, the cost of reaching orbit drops by orders of magnitude, changing the economics of lunar bases, Mars exploration and large space telescopes. This chronology records how far that possibility has actually come.

The Artemis III landing depends on Starship. NASA selected a Starship variant (HLS) as the lander in 2021, and orbital refuelling tests are the gating item for the landing schedule — every Starship flight is an indicator for Artemis.

Hardware-rich development started an argument about method in the space industry. Whether public, repeated failure is faster in the end, or traditional verification safer, will be judged by which approach reaches the Moon and Mars first.

How to watch

Starship launches from Starbase at Boca Chica, Texas, and SpaceX streams every flight live. On orbital-class flights the ship circles most of the Earth for about an hour before splashing down in the Indian Ocean.

Because Starship does not stay in orbit it is not in the sky view's satellite list. When a re-entry track passes over an observer it can look like a bright meteor, and SpaceX publishes the ground track before each flight.

Starship's size can be compared in the size-ladder view — set beside the Saturn V (111 m) and SLS (98 m), its 121 m takes on meaning.

Background

Starship was announced in 2016 as the "Interplanetary Transport System", and in 2019 the stainless-steel prototype Starhopper made a 150 m hop. Four of the upper-stage prototypes SN8 to SN15 exploded in 10 km test flights in 2020–2021 before one landed.

The pad damage on Flight 1 came from the absence of a flame diverter; a water-cooled steel plate was installed from Flight 2. The US Federal Aviation Administration requires a mishap investigation after each flight before licensing the next, and those investigations set the interval between flights.

Starship V2 was introduced in 2025, and V3 — larger tanks, Raptor 3 engines — is to carry the orbital-refuelling and lunar-lander tests. The date of the Artemis III landing depends on the success of Starship's refuelling demonstration.

Starship re-enters differently from the Space Shuttle. Where the shuttle glided on wings, Starship falls horizontally with its belly of heat-shield tiles forward, braking on atmospheric drag, then lights its engines to swing upright for landing. This “belly flop” manoeuvre was first tried in the 10 km test flights of 2020–2021 and has been tested at orbital re-entry speeds since Flight 4. Some 18,000 tiles shield it from re-entry heating, and most of the failure analyses of 2025 concentrated on thermal management around those tiles and the flaps.

FAQ

Why did Flight 1 explode?

Several engines failed, the vehicle tumbled and was destroyed by command; the pad, lacking a flame diverter, was shattered.

What is the chopstick catch?

On Flight 5 in October 2024 the 70 m booster was caught in mid-air by the launch tower's arms — reuse without landing legs.

How is it connected to Artemis?

A Starship variant is the Artemis III lunar lander, and its orbital-refuelling test gates the landing schedule.

How big is it?

121 m tall with 7,500 tonnes of thrust — larger than the Saturn V (111 m).

→ More sky news

Times and figures are approximate — verify with official sources when planning travel. Simulation uses J2000 mean elements.