Starship Flight 9 is in the books, and SpaceX reflew a Super Heavy Booster and, on the third try, got a Block 2 Ship past Second Stage Engine Cutoff (SECO). However, Ship 35 would not complete its primary objective of obtaining heat shield reentry data due to its uncontrolled reentry. This did not deter SpaceX, however, as just eight days after Flight 9, Booster 16 was rolled to Pad A for static fire testing.
Booster 14
Booster 14, along with Ship 35, lifted off of Pad A at 6:36:30 pm CDT. The full ascent burn of the Booster was flawless, with all 33 engines running. Then came hot staging, where SpaceX was attempting to control the direction of the flip compared to past flights, which had been randomized based on the Ship’s engine thrust differential.
To aid in the flip, SpaceX blocked off a portion of the hot stage ring to help nudge the Booster in the correct direction.
This flip worked flawlessly, and Booster then restarted the 10 inner ring of Raptors, having all 13 engines running for the boost-back burn. This suggests that SpaceX has addressed some of the ignition issues with the Raptor during past flights.
Flight 9 Hotstaging (Credit: Max Evans for NSF)
Booster 14 then proceeded to perform its glide back maneuver to the Gulf for a splashdown, as SpaceX did not intend to catch this Booster a second time. This glide back was different from past flights, as SpaceX was attempting to use a higher angle of attack to induce more drag on the vehicle. This would, in turn, slow the Booster down more and thus require less fuel during its landing burn.
However, when Booster 14 got to its landing burn, it experienced a Rapid Unscheduled Disassembly (RUD). It is currently unknown what exactly led to the Booster exploding as soon as it ignited its engines for the landing burn, but the increased stresses during reentry could have led to a failure.
While SpaceX didn’t get to test its experimental landing burn configuration, teams will have gained a lot of data from flying a reused Super Heavy Booster for the first time.
Booster 14 Reentry (Credit: Jerry Pike for NSF)
Ship 35
The Ship, however, wouldn’t fare as well as the Booster. After Stage separation, Ship 35 flew through its ascent burn and made it to SECO. This marks the first Block 2 Ship to make it to SECO, and the first Ship since Ship 31 on November 19, 2024, during Flight 6. There was some possible outgassing coming from the attic and into the engine bay; however, the origin point is unclear.
Shortly after SECO, Ship 35 started to spin, possibly due to a leak from one of the aft Liquid Oxygen (LOX) dump valves at the bottom of the skirt. One of those did get red hot just after SECO but cooled off right away. This spin would continue for the entire coast phase of Ship 35, and it may have been the reason why the payload bay door could not open.
As a result of the spin that was being caused by some sort of leak, Ship 35 was unable to perform the planned Raptor relight and had to be safed by the flight computer by venting the rest of the ullage gas and propellant overboard. With no tank pressure to control the Reaction Control System and the Ship spinning, Ship 35 reentered Earth’s atmosphere uncontrolled. It was then lost due to a breakup during reentry.
Starship in space pic.twitter.com/ztS3Zo9lH2
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) May 31, 2025
The exact cause of the spin and the precise source of a possible leak is still unknown, but after three flights of Block 2, SpaceX still doesn’t have good re-entry data using the new heat shield design and flaps. Because the Ship entered uncontrolled, it could not complete its mission as described in the launch license. Thus, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is requiring a Mishap Investigation to be performed.
This means that SpaceX will need to either close the investigation or get a safety exemption from the FAA to fly Flight 10. The loss of Booster 14 is covered by the “approved test-induced damage exceptions requested by SpaceX for certain flight events and system components”, as stated in the press release from the FAA.
While these past three flights have provided SpaceX with data on failure modes for Starship, they have lost six months of time on gathering reentry data, which is vital for attempting to make the 2026 Mars Transfer window.
The @FAANews is requiring a mishap investigation into Flight 9 of Starship.
"The mishap investigation is focused only on the loss of the Starship vehicle which did not complete its launch or reentry as planned."
— Adrian Beil (@BCCarCounters) May 30, 2025
Flight 10: Booster 16 and Ship 36
Up next is Flight 10, which is now confirmed to be Booster 16 on its maiden flight alongside Ship 36.
Booster 16 has completed its 33 engine static fire just 10 days after Flight 9, which beats the previous record set by Booster 13 after Flight 5 by one day.
With this test completed, it is set to roll back to Mega Bay 1 for final launch preparations. According to Shana Diaz, who is the Director of Starship Engineering, Booster 16 is slated to be caught on its first flight.
Full duration static fire of all 33 Raptor engines on the Super Heavy booster ahead of Starship's next flight test pic.twitter.com/03JFMVxQOT
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) June 6, 2025
This raises questions about SpaceX’s plans for Booster 17. Currently, there seem to be only three Block 2 Ships left to fly: Ship 36, 37, and 38. This would likely line up to have Booster 16 on Flight 10, Booster 15-2 on Flight 11, and then Booster 16-2 on Flight 12, assuming SpaceX catches Booster 16. This leaves Booster 17 as a backup Booster if there is an issue, like Ship 32 was the backup Ship if Ship 30 or Ship 31 couldn’t fly.
Ship 36 is currently in Mega Bay 2 getting fitted with engines and its aft flaps. This Ship will likely go out for static fire testing sooner rather than later. Assuming Ship 36 is tested within the next few weeks, early July is a very likely timeline for the Launch of Starship Flight 10. But it also depends on the Mishap investigation and any mitigations SpaceX needs to apply to the Ship or Booster.
Featured Image: Flight 9 Ignition (Credit: D Wise for NSF)
