Each successful test moves the company closer to those ambitions.
At a remote stretch of the Texas coast, humanity's most powerful rocket inched closer to its next leap skyward as SpaceX ignited all six engines of Starship's upper stage for a full sixty seconds — a quiet but consequential act of validation in the long, iterative work of making the impossible routine. Ship 40, the latest evolution of a vehicle designed to carry civilization's ambitions to the Moon and beyond, passed this threshold just days after a far more modest single-engine check, reflecting the compressed urgency that defines this era of space development. Each controlled burn on the ground is, in its way, a rehearsal for the grander fires to come.
- SpaceX dramatically escalated Ship 40's engine testing within a single week — jumping from one engine burning for 15 seconds to all six roaring together for a full minute.
- The compressed timeline signals the company's relentless development pace, but the Super Heavy booster's own static-fire tests still stand between now and an actual launch attempt.
- Flight 13 carries the unfinished business of Flight 12, including a critical in-space engine reignition that SpaceX must demonstrate to unlock the rocket's full mission potential.
- The stakes reach far beyond the test range: Starlink expansion, record-breaking payload delivery, and NASA's Artemis lunar landings all depend on Starship proving itself flight by flight.
- If booster testing clears without setbacks, Flight 13 could lift off as early as August — though the history of rocket development counsels patience over prediction.
SpaceX fired all six Raptor engines on Starship's upper stage for a full sixty seconds this week at Starbase, Texas — a striking escalation from the single-engine, 15-second checkout the same vehicle had completed just days before. The static-fire test, in which Ship 40 was held firmly in place while its engines burned at full thrust, is the kind of ground validation SpaceX treats as non-negotiable before committing a rocket to flight. The company shared video of the ignition sequence across multiple camera angles, showing the three sea-level and three vacuum-optimized Raptors lighting in unison.
Ship 40 is the latest version of SpaceX's V3 Starship — at 408 feet, the tallest and most powerful rocket ever to reach orbit, standing roughly five feet taller than its predecessor and carrying refinements earned through a dozen previous test flights. The upcoming Flight 13 will largely reprise the objectives of Flight 12, which launched in May and met most of its goals, though the Super Heavy booster fell short of its planned soft ocean landing. Among the key objectives this time: reigniting a Raptor engine while in space, a capability central to Starship's long-term mission architecture.
The ambitions riding on this vehicle are considerable — from expanding the Starlink constellation and lifting heavier commercial payloads than any existing rocket, to eventually ferrying NASA astronauts to the lunar surface under the Artemis program. Before Flight 13 can proceed, however, SpaceX must still conduct static-fire testing on the Super Heavy booster and its cluster of 33 Raptor engines. If that testing goes smoothly, a launch attempt could come as early as August — though the company knows better than most that rocket development rarely bends to optimistic schedules.
SpaceX fired up all six engines on Starship's upper stage for a full minute this week at its testing facility in Starbase, Texas, marking a significant milestone in the countdown to the rocket's 13th test flight. The spacecraft, designated Ship 40, had undergone a much more modest engine check just days earlier—a single Raptor engine burning for about 15 seconds. This latest test represented a dramatic escalation: all six engines, a mix of three sea-level variants and three vacuum-optimized models, roaring to life in unison to simulate the conditions the vehicle will face during actual flight.
The test came less than a week after Ship 40's initial engine checkout, a compressed timeline that reflects SpaceX's aggressive development pace. The company posted video of the ignition sequence to its X account on Thursday, showing multiple camera angles of the engines firing in what engineers call a static-fire test—the vehicle held firmly in place while its engines burn at full thrust. For SpaceX, these ground tests serve as essential validation before committing a rocket to the risks of actual flight.
Ship 40 is slated to fly as part of the second iteration of SpaceX's Version 3 Starship, the company's super-heavy lift rocket that stands 408 feet tall and represents the most powerful rocket ever to reach orbit. The V3 is about five feet taller than its predecessor and carries a suite of improvements refined through earlier test flights. The upcoming Flight 13 will largely mirror the objectives of Flight 12, which launched on May 22 and achieved most of its goals—though the Super Heavy booster, the first stage, did not execute its planned soft landing in the ocean as intended. This time around, SpaceX will again attempt to reignite one of Ship's Raptor engines while in space, a critical capability for the vehicle's long-term mission architecture.
The stakes for Starship extend well beyond these incremental test flights. Once fully operational, the rocket will serve as the backbone of SpaceX's plans to expand its Starlink satellite internet constellation into low Earth orbit, deliver heavier payloads than any existing rocket, and carry NASA astronauts to the lunar surface as part of the Artemis program. Each successful test, each engine firing that goes as planned, moves the company closer to those ambitions.
Before Flight 13 can happen, however, SpaceX must clear another hurdle. The Super Heavy booster—the first stage of the fully stacked rocket—needs its own round of static-fire testing. Super Heavy is a beast unto itself: 33 Raptor engines clustered at its base, producing nearly 20 million pounds of thrust at liftoff. Once those engines have been validated on the test stand, the booster will be rolled to the launch pad for final preparations. If everything proceeds without significant setbacks, SpaceX could be ready to attempt Flight 13 as early as August, though the company has learned through hard experience that rocket development rarely follows a perfectly linear schedule.
Notable Quotes
Flight 13 will largely mirror the objectives of Flight 12, which achieved most of its goals though the Super Heavy booster did not execute its planned soft landing as intended.— SpaceX development timeline
The Hearth Conversation Another angle on the story
Why does a single static-fire test matter so much? Isn't this just routine maintenance before a launch?
It's more than routine. Each test is a data point. When you fire all six engines together for the first time, you're learning how they interact, how the fuel flows, whether the ignition sequence is stable. One engine is a proof of concept. Six engines is a system.
And the jump from 15 seconds to a full minute—what does that tell you?
It tells you the engineers are confident enough to push harder. Fifteen seconds is a quick pulse. A minute is close to what you'd see in actual flight. They're stress-testing the machinery, the plumbing, the electrical systems. If something is going to fail, a longer burn is more likely to expose it.
The article mentions they're trying to reignite an engine in space. Why is that so difficult?
In space, there's no air, no gravity working the way it does on Earth. You have to manage fuel flow, ignition timing, and engine restart sequences in an environment where your intuitions don't apply. It's one of the hardest things a rocket can do.
So Flight 13 is essentially a repeat of Flight 12, but with lessons learned?
Mostly, yes. Flight 12 proved the V3 design works. But the booster didn't land softly as planned. Flight 13 is a chance to nail that, to prove it wasn't a fluke. You don't move forward until you've solved the previous problem.
When do you think they'll actually launch?
August if nothing breaks. But "nothing breaks" is a high bar in rocket development. Every test is a conversation with the machine. Sometimes the machine has something to say.