SpaceX officially announced that the 13th Integrated Flight Test (IFT-13) of Starship will launch no earlier than July 16 local time from Starbase in Texas, USA. This flight will continue pursuing the core objectives laid out in the previous mission, while marking the first time the vehicle will carry a new batch of next-generation Starlink V3 satellites to space.
The 12th flight test debuted two upgraded vehicles: Starship V3 and Super Heavy V3, yet several anomalies emerged during the mission. These included unplanned booster rotation attitude deviation at stage separation, and malfunctions when certain engines attempted re-ignition. To resolve these issues, SpaceX has rolled out multiple hardware and software refinements for the Super Heavy booster, such as revised engine startup sequences and hardware upgrades to boost the reliability of engine re-lights.
Key test objectives for the Super Heavy booster during this flight include executing a nominal launch, ascent and stage separation, plus performing return burn maneuvers. The Starship upper stage’s primary mission milestones cover the inaugural deployment of 20 Starlink V3 satellites and the re-ignition of one Raptor engine in space.
Additionally, the flight will validate a suite of upgrades and experimental tweaks to Starship’s thermal protection system, advancing the program’s ultimate goal of full, rapid reusability.
(Reprinted from https://news.eccn.com/）