Starbase Coverage
Every Starbase and Starship story we can find from the past six months, newest first. We did not write these articles: each headline links straight to the outlet that reported it. What we add is the context underneath, tying a story to the flight it covers, the beach closure it caused, or the launch window it moves.
Updated August 11, 2026 · 160 stories
Starbase sits at Boca Chica in Cameron County, Texas, about 23 miles east of Brownsville. It is where SpaceX builds and flies Starship, and it became an incorporated city in 2025. Coverage of it splits in two: national space press follows the vehicle and the test campaign, while Rio Grande Valley outlets follow the permits, the road closures, and what it means for people who live here. Both are below, because you need both to understand what is actually happening.
At SpaceX’s Starbase production site, teams are progressing multiple Starship vehicles through the Production Site...
Starship is the fully reusable rocket SpaceX builds and flies at Starbase: the Super Heavy booster plus the Starship upper stage, stacked about 400 feet tall.
Space Exploration Technologies Corp. could expand its industrial operations to another 33.9 acres near Boca Chica Beach, records show.
Starbase is wedged between a state park and a national wildlife refuge, so SpaceX expanding its footprint there means land swaps and beach access fights, not just construction.
SpaceX is still towing Starship's upper stage toward shore two weeks after its latest test flight, but the unprecedented effort is unlikely to succeed, according to Elon Musk.
Starship is the fully reusable rocket SpaceX builds and flies at Starbase: the Super Heavy booster plus the Starship upper stage, stacked about 400 feet tall.
Elon Musk has declared that SpaceX has effectively solved one of Starship’s most persistent engineering challenges: the reliability of its heat shield tiles. During the company's first-ever Earnings...
Surviving reentry is the hard part of reusing the upper stage: it comes back through plasma hot enough to strip the ceramic tiles that protect the hull.
SpaceX plans to start deploying upgraded Starlink satellites into orbit on the next flight of its Starship vehicle, scheduled for as soon as the end of the month.
Starship is the fully reusable rocket SpaceX builds and flies at Starbase: the Super Heavy booster plus the Starship upper stage, stacked about 400 feet tall.
SpaceX is recovering the intact Ship 40 from the Indian Ocean after its soft landing...
SpaceX numbers each airframe rather than each flight, so a headline about Ship 40 or Booster 21 is about one specific vehicle, not the mission number.
SpaceX released new footage of Starship in space captured by the Starlink satellites it deployed.
Starlink is SpaceX's satellite internet constellation. It is the payload on most Falcon 9 launches, which is why those flights come in such steady batches.
While SpaceX has now flown two flights out of the newly designed Pad 2, crews...
SpaceX continues to collect imagery of the vehicle as it floats in the Indian Ocean five days after its most recent flight test.
Starship test flights currently end with a controlled splashdown at sea rather than a landing, so recovery means fishing hardware or debris out of the water afterward.
Elon Musk shed two new bits of detail on Starship following its 13th test launch, which was an overwhelming success. SpaceX launched Starship for the 13th time last Friday after two delays: one on...
HARLINGEN, Texas (ValleyCentral), Efforts are underway to recover the Starship from the Indian Ocean after it lifted off from Starbase last week. SpaceX noted several successes throughout Starship...
Starship test flights currently end with a controlled splashdown at sea rather than a landing, so recovery means fishing hardware or debris out of the water afterward.
SpaceX’s Starship Flight 13 demonstrated that the Ship can complete its mission and return intact,...
SpaceX numbers each airframe rather than each flight, so a headline about Ship 40 or Booster 21 is about one specific vehicle, not the mission number.
The 13th test flight of SpaceX's Starship megarocket went pretty well, and provided some amazing visuals, too. See the highlights here.
SpaceX performed a secret test on a specific portion of Starship with its recent 13th test flight last week, CEO Elon Musk revealed. Starship's 13th test flight took place last Friday, and in many...
HARLINGEN, Texas (ValleyCentral), A couple of hours before sunrise, something electrical failed at or beyond the Sanchez site, producing a bright flash and a momentary power flicker across Star...
HARLINGEN, Texas ( ValleyCentral ), Elon Musk, director ejecutivo de SpaceX, anuncia que SpaceX intentará atrapar la Starship con la torre en el próximo vuelo de prueba programado. Tras el esperado...
HARLINGEN, Texas (ValleyCentral), SpaceX CEO Elon Musk announces SpaceX will attempt to catch Starship with the tower on the next scheduled test flight. Following the anticipated thirteenth Starship...
Just hours after Starship Flight 13 achieved a successful soft splashdown of its upper stage in the Indian Ocean on July 24, Elon Musk announced an ambitious next step for the company's next launch...
Starship test flights currently end with a controlled splashdown at sea rather than a landing, so recovery means fishing hardware or debris out of the water afterward.
Starship S40 and Super Heavy booster B20 lifted off from SpaceX’s launch pad No. 2 at Boca Chica at 5:51 p.m. on Friday after previously scrubbing the launch twice, yesterday due to weather and on...
Boca Chica Beach is the public beach right next to the launch site, reached by State Highway 4, and it closes for launches and some tests.
Powered by 33 methane-fueled Raptor engines, the 407-foot-tall two-stage rocket blasted off from SpaceX's "Starbase," Texas, launch site at 5:51 p.m. EDT, putting on a spectacular show for area...
Raptor is the methane-fueled engine that powers both stages: 33 on the Super Heavy booster, six on the Starship upper stage.
SpaceX launched Starship on its 13th suborbital test flight July 24, correcting some of the issues seen on the previous flight while deploying functioning satellites for the first time.
The company is aiming for a Friday evening launch from Starbase after an engine-related abort last week and a weather delay Thursday.
SpaceX pushed Starship Flight 13 to Friday, blaming weather instead of the previous engine issues.
SpaceX's Starship flew successfully Friday, landing both stages and deploying its first Starlink V3 satellites.
Starlink is SpaceX's satellite internet constellation. It is the payload on most Falcon 9 launches, which is why those flights come in such steady batches.
SOUTH PADRE ISLAND, Texas (ValleyCentral), After two scrubbed launch attempts, SpaceX’s Starship Flight 13 finally lifted off Friday, rewarding thousands of spectators who waited days to witness the...
HARLINGEN, Texas (ValleyCentral), SpaceX launched its 13th Starship flight test from Starbase on Friday afternoon. Friday’s launch comes after SpaceX scrubbed Thursday’s flight hours before liftoff...
SpaceX on Thursday afternoon announced that it was scrubbing its planned launch of Starship/Super Heavy from Boca Chica Beach.
Boca Chica Beach is the public beach right next to the launch site, reached by State Highway 4, and it closes for launches and some tests.
The flight was delayed another day as Tropical Storm Bertha was expected to make landfall in Texas on Thursday. Liftoff of the Starship Flight 13 mission is scheduled during a 90-minute window that...
On the third attempt of Starship Flight 13, Booster 20 and Ship 40 lifted off...
SpaceX numbers each airframe rather than each flight, so a headline about Ship 40 or Booster 21 is about one specific vehicle, not the mission number.
SOUTH PADRE ISLAND, Texas (ValleyCentral), Thousands of people gathered at Isla Blanca Park on Thursday hoping to watch SpaceX’s Starship Flight 13 lift off, but weather had other plans. Less than...
HARLINGEN, Texas (ValleyCentral), SpaceX announced Thursday afternoon that it will reschedule its second attempt at Starship Flight 13 due to weather. The announcement was made two hours before the...
SpaceX continues to target no earlier than Thursday, July 23, for the next attempt to...
Super Heavy is the first stage, the part that does the initial lift and then either splashes down offshore or flies back to be caught by the tower arms.
Volunteers will conduct shoreline patrols to document possible debris and monitor marine wildlife during Starship Flight 13.
Starbase flights are gated by federal and county sign-off: the FAA licenses the launch, and Cameron County posts the Highway 4 and beach closures that go with it.
SpaceX is gearing up for another Starship flight test from Starbase after making upgrades to address issues encountered during its previous mission.
SpaceX has updated its target for the thirteenth integrated flight test of Starship, aiming for as early as Thursday, July 23. The 90-minute launch window opens at 5:45 p.m. CT from the company’s...
STARBASE, Texas (ValleyCentral), As SpaceX transitioned into final preparations for Starship Flight 13, Ship 40 gave a wave as it was put through a round of actuation testing of its flaps. That...
HARLINGEN, Texas ( ValleyCentral ) – SpaceX ha anunciado que ha reprogramado su decimotercer vuelo de prueba de Starship por segunda vez. La ventana de lanzamiento se ha modificado para las 5:45 de...
HARLINGEN, Texas (ValleyCentral) – SpaceX has announced it has rescheduled its thirteenth Starship test flight for the second time. The launch window has been moved to 5:45 p.m. Thursday, July 23...
HARLINGEN, Texas ( ValleyCentral ), SpaceX ha anunciado su nueva fecha de lanzamiento después de que el segundo lanzamiento del año fuera cancelado en la plataforma el jueves por la tarde. El sitio...
SpaceX has announced a new target date for the thirteenth test flight of Starship: Monday, July 20, with the launch window opening at 6:45 p.m ET/5:45 p.m. CT. This is the first rescheduling attempt...
Four Raptor engines failed to ignite at T-zero, forcing SpaceX to scrub Starship Flight 13 Thursday.
Raptor is the methane-fueled engine that powers both stages: 33 on the Super Heavy booster, six on the Starship upper stage.
HARLINGEN, Texas (ValleyCentral), SpaceX has announced its new launch date after the second launch of the year was scrubbed on the pad on Thursday afternoon. SpaceX‘s website shows the Starship’s...
SpaceX aborted the launch of its latest Starship test flight July 16 when some of the vehicle’s engines failed to ignite.
Flight 13 was halted seconds before liftoff after an issue during Super Heavy booster engine startup. SpaceX says it is targeting another launch attempt early next week.
Super Heavy is the first stage, the part that does the initial lift and then either splashes down offshore or flies back to be caught by the tower arms.
HARLINGEN, Texas (ValleyCentral), SpaceX scrubbed its Starship Flight 13 right after it was preparing to liftoff from Starbase on Thursday evening. The aerospace company posted on X that it is...
SOUTH PADRE ISLAND, Texas (ValleyCentral), Thousands of spectators lined the beaches of South Padre Island on Thursday hoping to witness SpaceX’s 13th Starship test flight, but their anticipation...
The mission will also test out a series of improvements to the launcher to help push it closer to full reusability. Liftoff from pad 2 at Starbase, Texas, was aborted at ignition due to an...
Reuse is the whole economic argument: Falcon 9 boosters now fly and land repeatedly, and Starship is an attempt to do that with both stages instead of one.
SpaceX has expanded its footprint with a 54-acre purchase on the far north end of South Padre Island, adding to nearly 500 parcels it controls in Cameron County.
Starbase is wedged between a state park and a national wildlife refuge, so SpaceX expanding its footprint there means land swaps and beach access fights, not just construction.
The launch would be Starship’s first since the FAA grounded flights in May and follows a SpaceX ground test that rattled parts of Brownsville.
Launches and booster returns put a sonic boom over the lower Rio Grande Valley, which is why Brownsville and Port Isabel residents often feel a flight they cannot see.
SpaceX is gearing up for the 13th Starship integrated flight test, which is currently scheduled for Thursday, July 16, with the launch window opening up at 6:30 PM E.T. from Starbase in South Texas...