Starship Flight 2
← All Starship Flights

Starship V1 · Saturday, November 18, 2023

Starship Flight 2

First successful hot-stage separation. Booster exploded after separation; ship lost near the end of its burn.

Result
Failure
Super Heavy
Lost
Starship
Lost
Duration
~8 min

Photo: SpaceX

Flight replay

Watch Starship Flight 2

Video: SpaceX. Watch SpaceX's full webcast.

The flight

What Happened

The second test flight achieved the program's first successful hot-stage separation, with all 33 booster engines lighting on ascent. The Super Heavy booster was lost in an explosion over the Gulf shortly after separation, and the Starship upper stage continued to near-orbital velocity before being lost around the end of its ascent burn.

Firsts

  • First successful hot-stage separation
  • First ascent with all 33 Raptor engines running

Flight path

STARBASEDOWNRANGELOSTLOST
The typical Starship flight plan. SpaceX publishes no minute-by-minute timeline for this flight. A dashed line is a stage that did not finish its plan.

Two stages

Booster and Ship

Super Heavy boosterLost
Lost: exploded over the Gulf shortly after hot-stage separation
Starship upper stageLost
Lost near the end of the ascent burn

Objectives

  • Demonstrate hot-stage separation
  • Full 33-engine ascent
  • Push Starship toward orbital velocity

Anomalies

  • Booster RUD after separation
  • Ship lost late in ascent burn

Sources