Tootfinder

ICYMI: "The thirteenth flight test of #Starship is preparing to launch as early as Thursday, July 23. The 90-minute launch window will open at 5:45 p.m. CT." So says https://www.spacex.com/launches/starship-flight-13

Some screencaps of the #Starship 13 test flight, more in the thread https://bsky.app/profile/cosmos4u.bsky.social/post/3mrgigiliy22r - the Starship itself has performed flawlessly so far, deploying 20 doomed Starlink satellites and relighting an engine, but the booster lit only 5 instead of 13 engines and crashed harder into the Gulf of Mexico than planned.

The departure of the latest #Starship as seen from the booster falling behind - a rotated still from the clip https://x.com/SpaceX/status/2080826996490199070 released after the flight.

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Starship:
🎵 We Built This City
#Starship
https://djouija.bandcamp.com/track/starship-we-built-this-city-remix
https://open.spotify.com/track/6OnfBiiSc9RGKiBKKtZXgQ

The splash-down of the #Starship itself was just the opposite: for the first time it stayed intact and floated in the Indian Ocean, allong detailled inspection of the heat tiles - more screencaps in the thread https://bsky.app/profile/cosmos4u.bsky.social/post/3mrgohbrov22r

10 minutes til the planned launch of #Starship 13 - original webcast on https://x.com/i/broadcasts/1AJEmmYdMDnJL

"Now targeting Friday, July 24 for Starship’s thirteenth flight test, due to weather," SpaceX xeeted minutes ago: "A key objective for the flight test is to get clear imagery from the ground of Starship’s heatshield as it flies at a higher dynamic pressure during ascent, which won't be possible with today's weather conditions. Visibility is forecast to be ideal for a Friday attempt." #Starship

Space exploration enthusiasts have been tracking the unprecedented journey of SpaceX’s latest #Starship prototype, which wound up floating in the Indian Ocean after the company’s latest test flight - now, satellites have captured mind-bending images of boats working to haul the rocket back to shore: https://edition.cnn.com/2026/08/03/science/spacex-starship-indian-ocean-recovery-satellite-images

The launch of #Starship 13 was aborted right at t zero - leading to a scrub for today, the rocket is already being detanked. No information on when the next attempt can happen.

And in #Starship 13 update: "To be confident of a good flight, 2 Raptors will be removed & replaced. Most probable launch timing is early next week."

RE: #Starship 13 test from 22:10 UTC on https://x.com/i/broadcasts/1MKgNNXAZdmxL

"Some of the engines didn’t start, triggering an automatic launch abort," says #Starship 13 launch attempt after 24 hours.

Some more #Starship visuals from test flight 13, all stills from video clips released some days later. See more and links to the sources in https://skyweek.wordpress.com/2026/08/01/744-meter-die-engste-passage-eines-asteroiden/ ("Viele neue Visuals ...")!

A view of the #Starship in orbit, from one of the deployed #Starlink #satellites: a still from the video https://x.com/Starlink/status/2104603601943339071 -> https://bsky.app/profile/nasaspaceflight.com/post/3mwlpcf2f3s2u - and see https://www.spacex.com/launches/starship-flight-14 for SpaceX's spin on the outcome of flight 14.

The 14th - and first orbital - #Starship launch is now planned for 12:48 UTC: SpaceX's webcast has begun on https://x.com/i/broadcasts/1qxvvenMPMQxB with others at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9gDxG-pm1Zo and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FyQU5NdpfXQ (and see https://www.spacex.com/launches/starship-flight-14 and https://skyweek.wordpress.com/2026/09/24/allgemeines-live-blog-ab-dem-24-september-2/#Sep28 for more info).

The #Starship will try an orbit insertion after all with a single engine burn in a few minutes - the decision of the go/no go poll was announced at t 21:55.

The #Starship is currently on a suborbital path but as one of its 6 engines went out during ascent there is no decision yet whether an orbit insertion can happen or not ... Meanwhile the SuperHeavy made a soft splashdown in spite of two engines dying on its ascent as well. "Excitement guaranteed" ...

And for the first time a #Starship is in orbit - next comes the deployment of the 26 Starlink v3 satellites, highly anticipated by SpaceX and dreaded by astronomers and anyone else interested in safe LEO for everyone ...

Concise 10-minute documentary on the #Starship test flight number 14: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=grUdB5SjqJ8 - includes great video of the fiery demise of the booster (due to deliberately testing its self-destruction system after a soft ocean touchdown) not seen in the SpaceX webcast.

The #Starship is still floating in the Indian Ocean after test flight number 13: https://nitter.net/SpaceX/status/2082186802912207064. It has travelled some way already: https://nitter.net/mcrs987/status/2082202679657349249. And it has just been decided to send a boat to recover it: https://nitter.net/elonmusk/status/2082244164197183805

SpaceX debris raises Gulf fishing concerns near Boca Chica: #Starship

All 26 #Starlink #satellites of the new large version 3 have been deployed by the first #Starship reaching orbit: see https://skyweek.wordpress.com/2026/09/24/allgemeines-live-blog-ab-dem-24-september-2/#Sep28 for other screencaps - soon a decision will come whether all 6 planned orbits will be made.