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SpaceX Fires Starship Test 13, Relight Attempt, 20 Satellites

7/17/2026

Summary

SpaceX Launches

SpaceX will launch the Starship megarocket on Thursday, July 16, 2026, from Starbase, Texas, at 5:45 p.m. CDT.
Flight 13 tests the Version 3 Starship and Super Heavy, attempts a relight and boost-back burn, and carries 20 Starlink V3 satellites, equipped with cameras.
The satellites will burn up 20 minutes after release; Super Heavy will splash down in the Gulf of Mexico, Starship in the Indian Ocean, and a backup launch is set for July 17 if delayed.

Summary

SpaceX ClearedLaunch

The FAA cleared SpaceX’s Starship for Thursday’s launch after investigating the booster landing in May’s Flight 12.
Flight 13, SpaceX’s Starship mission since its Nasdaq listing, follows a Gigabay expansion in Florida and NASA’s push for a quicker launch cadence before the 2028 Artemis III lunar landing.
Critics warn that SpaceX’s aim of up to 120 launches per year from three Florida pads could strain commercial airspace and heighten competition with China’s lunar landing.

History

Historical Context

In June 2010 SpaceX’s Falcon 9 became the first privately built rocket to reach orbit, securing a $1.6 billion NASA Commercial Resupply Services contract that followed the 2006 COTS seed-money agreement. The FAA’s 2014 commercial launch licensing framework, created after those early successes, now clears SpaceX’s Starship Flight 13, which aims to deploy 20 Starlink satellites and could speed NASA’s Artemis III schedule amid growing U.S.–China lunar rivalry.

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SpaceX Launches

SpaceX will launch the Starship megarocket on Thursday, July 16, 2026, from Starbase, Texas, at 5:45 p.m. CDT.
Flight 13 tests the Version 3 Starship and Super Heavy, attempts a relight and boost-back burn, and carries 20 Starlink V3 satellites, equipped with cameras.
The satellites will burn up 20 minutes after release; Super Heavy will splash down in the Gulf of Mexico, Starship in the Indian Ocean, and a backup launch is set for July 17 if delayed.

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