SpaceX has static fired the Starship Super Heavy booster for the next test flight, shows footage from local media. The static fire test comes a little over a week after Starship Flight 9, with Elon Musk also indicating on X that the test is for the next Starship flight. Whether the latest static fire is an indicator of a rapid turnaround for Starship Flight 10 is unclear, but it does signal SpaceX's intent to pick up the pace with its flight test after progress has slowed down in the Starship test campaign in 2025.
SpaceX Prepares For Starship Flight 10 By Test Firing Super Heavy Booster
SpaceX's Starship Flight 9 came nearly three months after Flight 8 ended without the second-stage ship meeting any of its test objectives. The ship is a new second-generation design which is yet to complete a controlled reentry into the Earth's atmosphere. After consecutive complete failures on Flight 8 and 7, Flight 9 saw the ship successfully enter orbit and coast for a while before attempting reentry.
However, SpaceX later confirmed that pressurization problems with the ship's tanks meant that it was unable to maintain attitude control during its atmospheric entry. The loss of control meant that SpaceX was unable to test the ship's new heatshield tiles and it couldn't evaluate catch hardware either. This hardware is essential for the success of the Starship program, since it can eventually allow SpaceX to catch the second-stage rocket with the launch tower and ensure its reusability to drive down launch costs.
However, while the ship continued to be problematic during the test, SpaceX's Super Heavy booster nearly met all of its test objectives. Starship Flight 9 was the first test flight in which the firm reused a Super Heavy rocket booster. The booster also used a new flight profile in the form of a controlled stage separation and a steeper angle of attack for its entry phase. The only objectives it failed to meet were the test of a backup engine during the landing burn and a soft splashdown in the water.
After Flight 9, footage from local media shows that SpaceX tested the Super Heavy booster through a static fire for roughly six seconds. The test appeared to be a success, and SpaceX is yet to share any details of it on its social media. SpaceX static fired the Super Heavy after it shipped the rocket to the pad earlier this week and aborted an attempt yesterday.
With one booster static fire out of the way, SpaceX might test the ship for Starship Flight 10 soon. While the firm did transport a ship to its testing facilities earlier this week, it's unclear whether this ship will be the one that flies on Flight 10. Due to its inability to successfully splash down so far, the ship is the key driver of the Starship program and SpaceX will be eager to iron out all its kinks before attempting to fly it again.
SpaceX just conducted a static fire of Booster 16 ahead of Starship Flight 10 pic.twitter.com/nvXtqFUicF
— Dima Zeniuk (@DimaZeniuk) June 6, 2025
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