It’s happening on Wednesday, July 16. SpaceX isn’t just launching a rocket, it is deploying payload. For real this time.
Liftoff is set for 6:45 p.m. EDT out of the Starbase in South Texas. Catch the live stream on Space.com 30 minutes before the engines ignite. Or follow the live blog. Doesn’t matter how you watch, you will want to see it.
“The upcoming flight will aim to complete similar targets while also carrying next-gen satellites for the first time.”
Wait, why did we stop? Two months of silence. Flight 12 was a disaster, specifically the Super Heavy booster blowing up after separation. The FAA needed to review the wreckage. Now they gave the nod. Back in the air.
But Flight 13 has teeth. Twenty upgraded Starlink satellites. Version 3s.
Bold new territory for a test flight. Usually, they just launch empty vehicles or dummy cargo. This is hardware. Real hardware.
Here is the sequence:
- Ignition. All 33 Raptor 3 light up. That’s 18 million pounds of thrust.
- Separation. About two and a half minutes up, the booster splits. No tower catch today. Just a controlled splashdown into the Gulf.
- Payload Drop. Starship deploys those 20 satellites.
- The End. The booster tries to survive its landing burn, a fix from last time’s failure. Starship heads for reentry.
Are those satellites staying put? Not really.
They are there to test deployment. To make sure Starship can actually carry and release heavy loads. Once the trick is done, they burn up on reentry. Sacrificial tech for the sake of data.
The upper stage—Starship itself—is also getting checked out. Avionics, propulsion, the heat shield. Everything is monitored while it climbs.
Then it comes back down. Reentering over the Indian Ocean. About an hour after launch, it hits the water. A planned splashdown.
It works, for now. The data comes down. The questions remain. Will Version 3 hold together when things get really hot?
Only one way to find out. Watch the screen. Hope it doesn’t break again.
