Overview

• SpaceX is aiming to launch from Starbase, South Texas, on Oct. 13 at 6:15 p.m. CDT with a company webcast planned, though the schedule remains subject to change.
• The flight plan calls for a Super Heavy offshore landing attempt in the Gulf of Mexico and a Starship upper‑stage splashdown in the Indian Ocean about an hour after liftoff, with no return‑to‑launch‑site catch.
• A key objective is a new landing‑burn sequence that lights 13 Raptor engines before transitioning to a five‑engine divert phase for the next‑generation Super Heavy booster.
• Engineers will remove select thermal‑protection tiles to stress‑test reentry heating, and the vehicle will deploy eight Starlink simulator payloads on a suborbital trajectory that are expected to burn up on reentry.
• The test will re‑fly the Super Heavy used on Flight 8 with extensive Raptor reuse, as Falcon 9 operations continue at high tempo, including a successful Starlink launch from Florida on Oct. 7 and additional missions from Vandenberg and Cape Canaveral this week.