SpaceX is scheduled to conduct the 11th test flight of its Starship-Super Heavy rocket today, October 13, from its Starbase facility in South Texas.
How to watch SpaceX Starship Flight 11 from Starbase?
The launch, targeted for 6:15 p.m. CDT, marks a significant milestone as the final mission for the Version 2 iteration of the vehicle and the last planned Starship launch of 2025. The mission follows the successful Flight 10 on August 26, which completed its full suborbital profile.
SpaceX is scheduled to conduct its 11th Starship test flight from its Starbase facility in South Texas today, October 13, with liftoff targeted for 6:15 p.m. CDT. This mission marks the final flight for the Version 2 iteration of the vehicle and is the last planned Starship launch of 2025.
To celebrate that achievement, SpaceX recently released spectacular video footage of the flight, from the liftoff of the Super Heavy booster to the controlled splashdown of the Starship upper stage in the Indian Ocean.
Starship and Super Heavy on the pad for the eleventh flight test pic.twitter.com/oFyMB2fGVj
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) October 13, 2025
For today’s flight, SpaceX will reuse the Super Heavy booster B15, which first flew on Flight 8 in March and was caught by the “Mechazilla” launch tower. The booster will be equipped with 24 previously flown Raptor engines. While the booster will target a controlled splashdown in the Gulf of Mexico, it will test a new landing burn configuration, transitioning from 13 engines down to five, instead of the previous three. SpaceX stated this change adds redundancy for future booster recovery attempts.
The Starship upper stage, S38, will also perform a series of tests during its suborbital trajectory. It will deploy eight steel structures that simulate the mass and size of future Starlink V3 satellites before attempting to relight one of its Raptor engines in space to demonstrate deorbit and orbit-raising capabilities. To gather data for future missions, SpaceX has intentionally removed some heat shield tiles to study stress points on the vehicle. Before its own planned splashdown in the Indian Ocean, the ship will perform a “dynamic banking maneuver” to test guidance algorithms that will be used on future flights returning to Starbase.
This flight will also be the final one from the current configuration of Starbase’s Pad A. Operations are set to move to the newly constructed Pad B, which features a more traditional flame trench. Following this mission, SpaceX will focus on finalizing Starship Version 3, the iteration intended to perform orbital launches and recoveries, with its debut expected next year after at least one suborbital test flight.
As SpaceX advances its Starship program in Texas, it is also facing scrutiny over its expansion plans in Florida. The company is developing launch capabilities at Kennedy Space Center and Cape Canaveral, with a target of 2026 for the first launch. However, a draft environmental report cited the potential for significant flight delays at major Florida airports, drawing opposition from airport officials. In response, SpaceX stated that the hazard areas in the report are “extremely conservative” and that it is working closely with the FAA to minimize airspace disruptions, noting that airspace closures for Falcon launches are often released just minutes after liftoff.
With weather conditions reported as 80% favorable, public interest in today’s launch is high, with spectators gathering along the coast near the launch site.
