The Starship mega-rocket is preparing for its next flight: when will we see Elon Musk's ship fly and what's new?

SpaceX continues to prepare its Starship mega-rocket for its eleventh test flight . Elon Musk’s aerospace company shared on the social network X (formerly Twitter) in early September that the Super Heavy booster successfully completed a static ignition and recently announced that it has moved Starship to the Starbase launch pad for pre-flight testing.

As seen in the newly shared images, the 52-meter-tall spacecraft, known as Starship, is moving along a road at the starbase, while in the other two photographs, Starship is seen on the pad , supported by the mechanical arms of the launch tower.

But what's next for Starship now that it's at Starbase? Everything points to SpaceX conducting pressurization tests and engine checkouts to ensure the ship is ready for flight. This same preparation work will also be done on the Super Heavy booster. However, for now, it's important to mention that the date of Starship's eleventh test flight is still unknown .

This was the static ignition of Super Heavy

As we mentioned, in early September, SpaceX revealed that the Super Heavy booster completed a static firing , where both takeoff and engine performance are evaluated .

Unlike a real launch, this type of test is performed with the booster secured to the launch pad to prevent liftoff and ensure the safety of the equipment. Furthermore, although the burn duration is short, the engines operate at the maximum power allowed by the booster , keeping in mind that the main objectives of a static burn are to confirm that everything is functioning correctly and detect possible anomalies before an official launch.

Features of SpaceX's Starship rocket

SpaceX's Starship spacecraft and Super Heavy booster, collectively known as Starship, represent a fully reusable transportation system , designed to carry crew and cargo to Earth orbit, the Moon, and Mars .

Starship is the most powerful launch vehicle ever developed by SpaceX , measuring 123 meters high, with a diameter of nine meters, with the capacity to carry up to 150 metric tons of fully reusable cargo and 250 metric tons of disposable cargo, using tanker vehicles to refuel in low orbit and, in the future, will be able to carry up to 100 people on long-duration interplanetary flights .