SpaceX has shipped its Starship upper stage ship destined to fly on Flight 9, back to its production facilities after a static fire and rolled out the Super Heavy booster for the flight to the launch pad. The movements come as a fresh Coast Guard notice points to May 21st as the earliest lift-off date for the highly anticipated Flight 9. With the upcoming flight, SpaceX will fly the second generation upper stage for the third time in 2025 and after both its earlier tests ended in failure. Starship Flight 9 will also be the first test flight that reuses a Super Heavy booster for an important milestone in the test program.
SpaceX Stays Quiet On Starship Flight 9 Upper Stage Static Fire But Ships Super Heavy Booster To Launch Site
The latest notice to mariners from the Coast Guard shares that "rocket launching operations are scheduled to take place near Boca Chica, TX" on May 21st between 6:30 pm and 8:34 pm local time. Should SpaceX decide to use this time frame, Starship will launch close to sunset.
However, SpaceX hasn't confirmed any launch details about Starship yet despite the fact that the firm conducted a static fire of the upper stage spacecraft and shipped it back to its production facilities yesterday and this morning, local time.
The upper-stage spacecraft will once again be the watch item for Starship Flight 9. This ship features several upgrades over its predecessor, including larger tanks, a new propulsion system and new heat shield tiles. It first flew on Starship Flight 7 in January and then on Flight 8 in March. Both these times, the ship failed to perform and exploded soon after separating from the first-stage Super Heavy booster.
Footage from local media shows that SpaceX static-fired the upper-stage Starship at its ground testing facilities yesterday. Unlike the previous static fire tests, the rocket appeared to have performed normally and without fault. SpaceX shipped the upper stage ship back to its production facilities, likely to evaluate its performance and perform checks before potentially deciding to ship it to the launch pad for Starship Flight 9.
Lending further credence to a potential upcoming Starship Flight 9 launch is the fact that SpaceX has also shipped the Super Heavy booster for the test to the launch pad. The 232-feet-tall rocket started its journey from the production facilities late at night yesterday and made it to the launch pad soon after midnight. This rocket first flew on Starship Flight 7, and the upcoming Flight 9 will mark the first time that SpaceX attempts to reuse a rocket booster in the Starship test program.
Booster 14-2 is at the launch site once more. Theoretically, the next departure should be Raptor-powered. pic.twitter.com/i6v6pJFoLd
— LabPadre Space (@LabPadre) May 13, 2025
Rocket reusability is a key tenet of the Starship program, with SpaceX planning to reuse the booster and the ship. The firm flew catch hardware on the ship on Flights 7 and 8. However, as the upper stage failed on both, it was unable to evaluate whether to proceed with catching the ship with the tower as well. The road to the ship's reusability should become clearer after Starship Flight 9, provided that the ship successfully splashes down in the water.
And here we go.
Booster 14-2 on the Pad.
Ship 35 back in Mega Bay 2 for final checkouts.This is your Flight 9 Stack, currently targeting May 21. pic.twitter.com/ZvxbxkAv2j
— Adrian Beil (@BCCarCounters) May 13, 2025
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