Timeline of SpaceX Starship flight tests—and what happened

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - A series of test flights are being conducted for SpaceX’s Starship – a next-generation spacecraft being developed for heavy-lift missions. 

April 20, 2023 was the first flight test, and as of Thursday, eight test flights have been conducted. 

Timeline:

Here’s a look at how each SpaceX Starship test flight has resulted.

SpaceX’s 8th flight test

SpaceX's eighth Starship test flight ended in failure after the Starship upper stage lost engines and control before exploding off Florida’s coast. The incident has prompted the Federal Aviation Administration to order ground stops for multiple airports.

The launch, which took place on March 6, initially succeeded in separating Starship from the Super Heavy booster. However, eight minutes into the flight, the spacecraft began losing attitude control. SpaceX engineers lost contact with the vehicle before the ascent phase was complete. 

Several minutes later, reports and footage from social media appeared to show the Starship exploding off Florida's Atlantic Coast, which SpaceX described as "a rapid unscheduled disassembly," and contact was lost. 

As a result of the incident, the Federal Aviation Administration ordered ground stops for multiple airports, including Orlando International Airport (MC), Miami International Airport (MIA), Palm Beach International Airport (PBI), and Fort Lauderdale–Hollywood International Airport (FLL).

Despite the failure, SpaceX’s launch tower, known as Mechazilla, successfully caught the returning Super Heavy booster for the third time. The company will conduct a review before revealing the cause of the failure.

SpaceX’s 7th flight test

SpaceX’s Starship Flight 7, launched on Jan. 16, suffered a mid-flight failure, breaking apart over the Atlantic Ocean and scattering debris over the Turks and Caicos Islands. While the Super Heavy booster successfully landed, the Starship upper stage was unable to complete its planned satellite deployment and splashdown in the Indian Ocean.

SpaceX’s investigation found that a harmonic response caused excessive stress on the propulsion system, leading to propellant leaks and sustained fires. 

"Preliminary indication is that we had an oxygen/fuel leak in the cavity above the ship engine firewall that was large enough to build pressure in excess of the vent capacity," SpaceX CEO Elon Musk posted on X. 

He added that future Starships will include fire suppression and increased venting to prevent similar failures.

The FAA cleared SpaceX to launch Starship Flight 8.

SpaceX’s 6th flight test

SpaceX launched Starship Flight 6 from Boca Chica, Texas, on Nov. 19, 2024, marking another test for the world’s most powerful rocket. 

While the Starship upper stage successfully reached space and simulated a landing in the Indian Ocean, its Super Heavy booster failed to return as planned, instead splashing down in the Gulf of Mexico–a sign that something went wrong. 

A live stream captured the booster exploding into a fireball after splashing down. SpaceX said the booster initially followed its descent path but "tripped a commit criteria," forcing a water landing. Engineers had also removed 2,100 heat shield tiles to test Starship’s durability. 

Despite the setback, SpaceX called the mission a success, providing valuable data for future flights. 

SpaceX’s 5th flight test

On Oct. 13, 2024, SpaceX launched its 5th test flight.

This was the very first (and successful) attempt to catch the returning booster with the launch tower’s metal arms, which some dubbed "chopsticks." 

"The tower has caught the rocket!!" Musk announced via X. "Big step towards making life multiplanetary was made today."

The rest of the spacecraft made a controlled landing in the Indian Ocean, adding to the day’s achievement.  

SpaceX’s 4th flight test

Starship’s fourth flight test launched on June 6, 2024.

The goal of this flight was to "go farther than any previous test before," according to the SpaceX website. 

The ship launched successfully from Starbase in Texas and returned to Earth without exploding. 

The three previous flight demos ended in explosions. This time, the rocket and the spacecraft managed to splash down in a controlled fashion, making the hourlong flight the longest and most successful yet.

"Despite loss of many tiles and a damaged flap, Starship made it all the way to a soft landing in the ocean!" Musk said via X at the time.

SpaceX’s 3rd flight test

The third integrated flight test of Starship Super Heavy roared to life from its tower in Boca Chica, Texas, in March 2024. Communication with both Starship and a system designed to track the craft was lost about an hour after liftoff, and the craft never returned to Earth. 

"We are making the call now that we have lost Ship 28," Dan Hout, a spokesperson for SpaceX, said during the live broadcast of the launch.

The launch system, consisting of 39 Raptor engines, provided the necessary thrust to carry the spacecraft over the Gulf of Mexico. After igniting the Raptor engines, Super Heavy executed a flip maneuver while Starship entered a coast phase before reentry. 

The plan was for both Starship and the rocket that carried it to space to splash down in the Indian Ocean, but that never happened.

"Obviously, there's a lot to go through," Hout said. "Everyone wants to know right off the bat what happened. It takes us a little bit of time, but I can assure you that as soon as we start finding things out, we're going to let everybody know."

SpaceX’s 2nd test flight

SpaceX launched its Starship rocket for its second test flight in Nov. 2023, but the booster exploded after separating and the spacecraft apparently detonated after reaching space.

SpaceX officials said the mega rocket successfully lifted off from Boca Chica, Texas. The booster then successfully separated from the spacecraft before shortly experiencing a "rapid unscheduled disassembly" and exploding.

"With a test like this, success comes from what we learn, and today’s test will help us improve Starship’s reliability as SpaceX seeks to make life multiplanetary," SpaceX wrote.

SpaceX’s 1st test flight 

The first test flight in April 2023 ended with an epic explosion 24 miles over the Gulf of Mexico when SpaceX launched Starship for the first time. 

The rocket took off from a launchpad in South Texas but exploded midair before stage separation.

The vehicle experienced multiple engines out during the flight test, lost altitude, and began to tumble. The flight termination system was commanded on both the booster and ship.

Thursday’s launch still marked the vehicle’s historic first test flight. "As if the flight test was not exciting enough, Starship experienced a rapid unscheduled disassembly before stage separation," SpaceX wrote on X.