SpaceX is targeting January 13 for Starship Flight 7

SpaceX has officially announced no earlier than January 13 to fly Starship Flight Test 7. This day will mark nearly 2 months from the last flight on November 19, 2024.

Starship Flight 7 polishes achievements from previous flights and will advance the entire test program. That includes a new catch attempt for the first stage. In the last test mission, the booster stage successfully performed the hot staging and boostback to Earth.

However, the launch tower failed to meet the parameters for booster catch. Therefore, the first stage was deflected to the Gulf of Mexico. However, SpaceX has made new improvements to the launch and catch tower including protections to the sensors on the tower chopsticks.

SpaceX Starship Full Stack at Boca Chica Starbase Texas (Source – SpaceX)

On the other hand, the second stage will now perform a payload deployment test. The ship will pack 10 Starlink simulators with weight and size identical to real satellites. These will be on the same suborbital trajectory as Starship.

After completing its in-space objectives, the ship will reenter Earth’s atmosphere, and its new heat shield and thermal management system will have to endure the high-heat journey.

Eventually, the ship will fire the final burn and stand vertically before splashing down in the Indian Ocean. This mission includes a new ship with new improvements to achieve efficiency and reliability over the previous generation.

(source)