Future Starship flights will end with returns to Starbase, where the launch tower will attempt to catch the vehicle returning from space, similar to how SpaceX showed it could recover the Super Heavy booster. A capture attempt with Starship is still at least a few flights away.
In preparation for future returns to Starbase, the Flight 11 craft will perform a “dynamic tilt maneuver” and test subsonic guidance algorithms before its final engine start to brake for splashdown. If all goes as planned, the flight will end with a controlled landing in the Indian Ocean approximately 66 minutes after takeoff.
Turning point
Monday’s test flight will be the last Starship launch of the year as SpaceX prepares a new generation of rocket, called Version 3, for its debut in early 2026. The new version of the rocket will fly with upgraded Raptor engines and larger propellant tanks and will have the ability to refuel in low Earth orbit.
Starship Version 3 will also inaugurate SpaceX’s second launch pad at Starbase, which features several improvements over the existing site, including a flame trench to redirect engine exhaust away from the platform. The flame trench is a common feature of many launch pads, but so far all Starship flights have used an elevated launch stand, or stool, on top of a water-cooled flame deflector.
The current launch complex is expected to be modified to accommodate future Starship V3s, giving the company two platforms to support a higher flight cadence.
NASA is counting on a higher flight cadence for Starship next year to move closer to fulfilling SpaceX’s contract to provide a human-capable lander for the agency’s Artemis lunar program. SpaceX has contracts worth more than $4 billion to develop a Starship derivative to land NASA astronauts on the Moon.
But much of SpaceX’s progress toward a moon landing relies on launching many spacecraft — perhaps a dozen or more — in a matter of weeks or months. SpaceX is activating the second launch pad in Texas and building several launch towers and a new factory in Florida to make this possible.
Besides the recovery and reuse of the Starship itself, the program’s most pressing near-term hurdle is demonstrating in-orbit refueling, a prerequisite for any future Starship trips to the Moon or Mars. This first refueling test could take place next year, but will require a smoother introduction of the Starship V3 than the Starship V2, which retires after Flight 11 with, at best, a 40% success rate.
