Starship SN11 prepares to fly as SpaceX pushes for Orbital flight this summer
March 15, 2021
Starship SN11 will re-attempt a Static Fire test Thursday – following a scrub on Monday – ahead of a potential flight as early as the weekend or the start of next week. Forever subject to change due to numerous considerations – ranging from weather, hardware parameters, and paperwork approval – SN11 will mark the final test of this iteration of Starship before the program moves into the next phase of testing.
Following SN11’s flight, SpaceX will move on to SN15, 16, and 17, alongside testing with Super Heavy prototypes BN1 and BN2, before shooting for an orbital launch with SN20 and BN3. In typical SpaceX-style, that orbital launch has an astonishing – and unlikely – “by July 1” target. At the very least, this target portrays SpaceX’s Starship drive to push the vehicle into operation.