SpaceX to launch 11th Starship integrated flight from Boca Chica

SpaceX is set to attempt the 11th integrated flight test of its Starship system on Monday, October 13, launching from its Starbase complex near Boca Chica, Texas, with a launch window opening at 7:15 p.m. Eastern. The 123 meter rocket will produce roughly 17 million pounds of thrust at liftoff and is scheduled to follow a suborbital trajectory before both stages attempt controlled water landings.

The flight will use a previously flown Super Heavy booster, B15, outfitted with 24 flight‑proven Raptor engines. After stage separation, the upper‑stage Ship will carry out a suborbital run more than halfway around the globe before attempting a splashdown in the Indian Ocean. The booster is expected to perform a controlled descent and splash down in the Gulf of Mexico rather than attempting a tower catch at the launch site. SpaceX said the test will exercise a new landing‑burn profile that ignites 13 engines, transitions to five and then to three for a final hover to gather data for the next generation booster and to add redundancy for future recovery attempts.

Onboard objectives include deployment of eight steel structures that simulate the mass and size of future Starlink satellites,...