List of SpaceX Starship flight tests

The "Starhopper" was the first prototype to fly using a Raptor engine.[11] The vehicle has three non-retractable legs and is shorter than the final spacecraft design.[12] It performed two tethered hops in early April 2019 and three months later, it hopped without a tether to around 25 m (80 ft).[13] In August 2019, the vehicle hopped to 150 m (500 ft) and traveled to a landing pad nearby.[14] By August 2021, the vehicle had been retired and repurposed as a mounting point for communication, weather monitoring equipment, and a water tank.[15]

In September 2019, Musk further detailed the lower-stage booster, the upper stage's method of controlling its descent, its heat shield, orbital refueling capacity, and potential destinations besides Mars.[16] The aft flaps on the spacecraft were reduced from three to two, and Starship's body material was changed from carbon composites to stainless steel for its lower cost, higher melting point, strength at cryogenic temperatures, and ease of manufacture.[17]

SpaceX was already constructing the first full-size Starship Mk1 and Mk2 upper-stage prototypes, at the SpaceX facilities in Boca Chica, Texas and Cocoa, Florida respectively.[16] Neither prototype flew: Mk1 was destroyed in November 2019 during a pressure stress test and Mk2's Florida facility was abandoned and deconstructed throughout 2020.[18][19] After the Mk prototypes, SpaceX began naming its new Starship upper-stage prototypes with the prefix "SN", short for "serial number".[20] No prototypes between SN1 and SN4 flew either—SN1 and SN3 collapsed during pressure stress tests, and SN4 exploded after its fifth engine firing.[15]

In June 2020, SpaceX started construction of a launch pad for orbit-capable Starship rockets.[21] In the next month, the company bought two drilling rigs for $3.5 million each from Valaris plc during the latter's bankruptcy proceedings, to repurpose them as offshore spaceports.[22] The first flight-capable Starship SN5 was cylindrical as it had no flaps or nose cone: just one Raptor engine, propellant tanks, and a mass simulator. On 5 August 2020, SN5 performed a 150 m (500 ft) high flight and successfully landed on a nearby pad.[23] On 3 September 2020, the similar-looking Starship SN6 repeated the hop;[24] later that month, the Raptor Vacuum engine was fired in full duration.[25]

SN8 was the first fully complete Starship upper stage prototype. It underwent four preliminary static fire tests between October and November 2020.[15] On 9 December 2020, SN8 flew, slowly turning off its three engines one by one, and reached an altitude of 12.5 km (7.8 mi). After SN8 dove back to the ground, its engines were hampered by low methane header tank pressure during the landing attempt, which led to a hard impact with the landing pad.[26] Because SpaceX had violated its launch license and ignored warnings of worsening shock wave damage, the Federal Aviation Administration investigated the incident for two months.[27]

On 2 February 2021, Starship SN9 launched to 10 km (6.2 mi) in a flight path similar to SN8. The prototype crashed upon landing because one of its engines did not properly ignite.[28] A month later, on 3 March, Starship SN10 launched on the same flight path as SN8 and 9. The vehicle landed hard and crushed its landing legs, leaning to one side,[29] and a fire was seen at the vehicle's base. It exploded less than ten minutes later,[30] probably due to a propellant tank rupture.[29] On 30 March, Starship SN11 flew into thick fog along the same flight path.[31] The vehicle exploded during descent,[31] possibly due to excess propellant in a Raptor's methane turbopump.[32]

In March 2021, the company disclosed a public construction plan for two sub-orbital launch pads, two orbital launch pads, two landing pads, two test stands, and a large propellant tank farm. The company soon proposed developing the surrounding Boca Chica village into a company town named Starbase;[33] locals raised concerns about SpaceX's authority, power, and potential threat for eviction through eminent domain.[34] In early April, the orbital launch pad's fuel storage tanks began mounting.[21] A few weeks later, on 16 April, NASA selected Starship Human Landing System (HLS) as the crewed lunar lander.[35] Blue Origin, a bidding competitor to SpaceX, disputed the decision and began a legal case in August 2021,[36] which was dismissed by the Court of Federal Claims three months later.[37]

Starship prototypes SN12, SN13, and SN14 were scrapped before completion; SN15 was selected to fly instead.[38] SN15 had better avionics, structure, and engines.[30] On 5 May 2021, SN15 launched, completed the same maneuvers as older prototypes, and landed safely.[38] Even though SN15, like SN10, had a small fire in the engine area after landing, it was extinguished, completing the first successful high-altitude test.[30]

SpaceX Starship's first orbital test flight is expected to launch once SpaceX makes environmental adjustments to Starbase, the planned launch site, as required by the Federal Aviation Administration,[39][40] and obtains a launch licence. SpaceX plans on using Starship prototypes Ship 24 and Booster 7. The Starship second stage may enter a transatmospheric Earth orbit with a positive perigee in the atmosphere. This will allow Ship 24 to reenter the atmosphere after completing around one orbit without having to restart its engines for a deorbit maneuver.

SpaceX currently refers to this flight as an integrated flight test[41].