SpaceX
SpaceX Founder confirms Starship Flight 7 launch date
SpaceX Founder and CEO, Elon Musk has given some insights on the upcoming Starship Flight 7 launch date, which could be in the second week of January 2025.
While answering X users, Musk mentioned “10th” to a question about Flight 7’s launch date. This date is related to previous reports and news about this mega-rocket test. The flight has also cleared the FAA’s test license.
SpaceX has been testing the new rocket for the past two years, improving its design and setting new milestones to prepare it for a commercial space mission.
Flight 5 and 6 were the most successful in the test saga, the integrated vehicle cleared the launch pad and reached orbit. The company has performed hot staging, followed by a boostback maneuver.
Among these, SpaceX caught the first stage booster with launch tower arms in Flight 5 but failed to repeat this action in the following mission. Therefore, Fight 7 could be our second view at this massive catch.
The upper stage will focus on conducting safe coasting in the sub-orbit and then reentry the Earth’s atmosphere to test its heat-shield tiles and thermal protection.
Flight 6 showed us the ship splashing vertically in the Indian Ocean after changing the mission time to afternoon. We may see a little more optimization in launch timing with Flight 7.