Starbase in the News, Page 3

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.

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.

Flight 14 flew September 28, 2026 and graded success: booster splashdown, ship splashdown. 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.

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.

Published 5 days after Flight 13 flew, which graded partial. 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.

Published 5 days after Flight 13 flew, which graded partial. 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.

Published 5 days after Flight 13 flew, which graded partial. 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.

Flight 13 flew July 24, 2026 and graded partial: booster lost, ship splashdown. 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.

Flight 13 flew July 24, 2026 and graded partial: booster lost, ship splashdown.

Flight 13 flew July 24, 2026 and graded partial: booster lost, ship splashdown.

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.

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.

Raptor is the methane-fueled engine that powers both stages: 33 on the Super Heavy booster, six on the Starship upper stage.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Starbase flights are gated by federal and city sign-off: the FAA licenses the launch, and the City of Starbase orders the Highway 4 and beach closures that go with it.

Raptor is the methane-fueled engine that powers both stages: 33 on the Super Heavy booster, six on the Starship upper stage.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.