SpaceX is gearing up for its 11th test flight of its full Starship rocket. With the woes of earlier this year looking to be in the past, the company is back to pushing forward what is possible; for this mission, it’s booster reflight.
Last night, SpaceX rolled out Booster 15 (15-1? 15-2?) to Launch Pad A at the company’s Starbase facility in South Texas. Booster 15 first flew on Flight 8 back in March and was the third booster to make a successful catch using the launch tower’s catch arms.
Booster 15 will now be reused for Flight 11, a first for the development program. It is also an important test as Starship’s success rides on the ability of SpaceX to reuse both its boosters and ship upper stages. However, given this is a first-time test, expectations are low for how Booster 15 will perform.
Booster 15 is a Block 2 booster and will be the final one before SpaceX moves to the redesigned Block 3 variant.
Starship Flight 11 is expected to be the final Starship flight of 2025 as teams finish both the Block 3 vehicles and a new launch pad, Launch Pad B. Flight 11 is currently slated to fly no earlier than October 13.
