Overview

• Launch window opens at 6:15 p.m. CDT (7:15 p.m. EDT) with a SpaceX webcast beginning about 30 minutes before liftoff, and the company reports an 80% chance of favorable weather.
• Super Heavy booster B15 flies for a second time with 24 flight‑proven Raptor engines, testing a new 13→5→3 landing‑burn sequence before a planned splashdown in the Gulf of Mexico.
• The upper stage will deploy eight Starlink mass simulators, attempt an in‑space Raptor relight, perform a dynamic banking maneuver, and target splashdown in the Indian Ocean.
• SpaceX designates this as the final Starship flight of 2025 for Version 2 and the last launch from Starbase Pad A before moving operations to Version 3 hardware at Pad B.
• NASA’s Artemis lunar landing plans rely on Starship capabilities, with a crewed touchdown now no earlier than mid‑2027, as regulators review Florida launch sites and potential airspace impacts.