Integrated Flight Test
Test Flight
Failure
SpaceX(SpX)CommercialStarshipN/ASuborbit
Launch time
Thursday, April 20, 2023 at 1:33 PM
Failure
Status details
Failure reason
After liftoff, the vehicle sustained fires from leaking propellant in the aft end of the Super Heavy booster, severing connection with the vehicle’s primary flight computer. This led to a loss of communications to most of the booster engines and eventually control of the vehicle. After the second stage failed to separate from the first stage, the vehicle reached an apogee of ~39km before tumbling downwards until the flight termination system was activated. Unexpected severe damage was also imparted on the launch pad.
Overview
Maiden flight of the two-stage Starship launch vehicle. The booster was supposed to separate 170 seconds into flight and return to land approximately 32 km off the shore in the Gulf of Mexico. The second stage would have followed a suborbital trajectory and performed an unpowered splashdown approximately 100 km off the northwest coast of Kauai (Hawaii). A launch failure was experienced before stage separation.
Mission details
The SpaceX Starship is a fully reusable super heavy-lift launch vehicle under development by SpaceX since 2012, as a self-funded private spaceflight project. The second stage of the Starship — is designed as a long-duration cargo and passenger-carrying spacecraft. It is expected to be initially used without any booster stage at all, as part of an extensive development program to prove out launch-and-landing and iterate on a variety of design details, particularly with respect to the vehicle's atmospheric reentry.
Mar 1, 2019 — ongoing
SpX Mission
#239
Pad Launch
#1
Location Launch
#10
Launch Window
NET
Apr 20, 2023, 1:33 PM
Precision
Second
Schedule Changes
1 update
SpaceX Starbase, TX, USA
Starbase is an industrial complex for Starship rockets and the headquarters of the American aerospace manufacturer company SpaceX. Located near Brownsville, Texas, United States, it has been under construction since the late 2010s by SpaceX. Starbase is composed of a spaceport near the Gulf of Mexico, a production facility at the Boca Chica village, and a small structure test site along the Texas State Highway 4.
Timezone
America/Chicago
Local Launch Time
Apr 20, 2023, 8:33 AM
Total Launches
21
Total Landings
13
Coordinates
25.9970, -97.1570
Frequently asked questions
SpaceX Starbase