If you’re eager to see SpaceX’s gargantuan Starship spacecraft thunder into the sky from Texas, now is your chance.
What could be the commercial spaceflight company’s last flight test of 2025 from its Starbase headquarters for the world’s largest rocket is coming up soon.
And like all of Starship’s test missions so far, the commercial spaceflight company, founded by billionaire Elon Musk, will provide a webcast from liftoff to landing.
This time around, SpaceX is looking to build off the momentum of its most successful launch of the year in August. That flight test, the fourth of 2025 and 10th since 2023, comes as SpaceX looks to ramp up the development for a vehicle that could help humans land on the moon and Mars.
Here’s what to know about how to watch SpaceX’s livestream of the Starship rocket launch, as well as what to expect for flight 11.
SpaceX plans to conduct the 11th flight test of its Starship spacecraft Monday, Oct. 13, with a target liftoff time of 7:15 p.m. ET.
SpaceX conducts Starship test flights from the company’s Starbase headquarters in South Texas, located about 23 miles from Brownsville near the U.S.-Mexico border. Texas voters in Cameron County approved a measure in May for Starbase to become a city, complete with a mayor and a city council.
SpaceX will host a livestream of the flight test that will begin about 30 minutes before liftoff.
The webcast is available on its website and on social media platform X. Coverage will also be available on SpaceX’s new X TV app.
SpaceX plans to use the flight test to gather data to inform the design of the next iteration of its lower-stage rocket booster, known as Super Heavy, while stress-testing the upper-stage vehicle’s heatshield. The company also detailed plans for the upper stage, simply known as Starship, to attempt mid-flight maneuvers that will be necessary for it to one day be capable of returning and landing back at the launch site.
After deploying mock Starlink internet satellites expected to burn up in the atmosphere, the upper stage is intended to land in the Indian Ocean.
For the second time ever, SpaceX also plans to use a Super Heavy booster that has flown on a previous Starship flight test. Additionally, 24 of its 33 engines in the SpaceX Raptor family will be “flight proven,” SpaceX said.
For the third time in a row, the booster will not return to the launch site, instead landing in the Gulf of Mexico, renamed by the U.S. government as the Gulf of America, as SpaceX attempts to push its performance beyond what has so far been attempted.
The Starship, standing 403 feet tall when fully stacked, is regarded as the world’s largest and most powerful launch vehicle ever developed. When fully integrated, the launch system is composed of both a 232-foot Super Heavy rocket and the 171-foot upper stage Starship, the spacecraft where crew and cargo would ride.
SpaceX is developing Starship to be a fully reusable transportation system, meaning the rocket and vehicle can return to the ground for additional missions.
In the years ahead, Starship is set to serve a pivotal role in future U.S. spaceflight.
Starship is the centerpiece of Musk’s vision of sending the first humans to Mars, with plans for the first uncrewed Starship to head to the Red Planet as early as 2026.
A configuration of the vehicle is also critical in NASA’s plans to return astronauts to the moon’s surface. The U.S. space agency has designs on using Starship to ferry Artemis III astronauts from an Orion capsule in orbit to the lunar surface as early as 2027.
Eric Lagatta is the Space Connect reporter for the USA TODAY Network. Reach him at elagatta@gannett.com