Overview

• Lift-off from Starbase in South Texas is scheduled for Sunday, Aug. 24, with a window opening at 7:30 p.m. ET and a company webcast starting about 30 minutes prior.
• The Super Heavy booster will attempt experimental landing-burn profiles over the Gulf of Mexico, including an engine-out scenario and a brief hover before a controlled splashdown.
• Starship’s upper stage will target in-space objectives such as deploying Starlink simulators, attempting a Raptor relight, and pushing new heat-shield tile configurations during reentry before an expected Indian Ocean splashdown.
• Following a Flight 9 mishap probe closure, SpaceX says it swapped in a new upper stage after a June static-fire explosion and implemented mitigations like COPV pressure reductions, added inspections and redesigned pressurization components.
• The demonstration carries programmatic weight for NASA’s lunar plans and SpaceX’s Starlink roadmap, with the company maintaining cadence on separate Falcon 9 operations, including a 24-satellite Starlink launch from Vandenberg on Aug. 22.