SpaceX to attempt major Starship Flight 13 test on Thursday

SpaceX is preparing to light up the skies over South Texas again. The company has targeted Thursday, July 16, 2026, for the 13th integrated test flight of its Starship vehicle, with a 90-minute launch window opening at 5:45 p.m. EDT from Pad 2 at Starbase.

This is not a routine test. Flight 13 is the second mission for the upgraded Version 3 configuration of Starship and its Super Heavy booster, and it arrives with a fresh set of ambitions after the FAA closed its mishap investigation into the previous flight just days before this one was cleared to fly.

What’s actually being tested here

The mission profile mirrors Flight 12, which launched on May 22, 2026. That flight was the first to use the V3, or Block 3, configuration, meaning the engineering team has exactly one data point from this hardware generation going into Thursday’s attempt.

The primary objective is a soft ocean landing for Starship’s upper stage. In plain terms, SpaceX wants to bring the giant upper portion of the rocket down gently onto the water rather than letting it crater into the ocean at speed.

Flight 13 also serves as a testbed for the newly upgraded Raptor 3 engines. The Raptor engine family has gone through iterative improvements across Starship’s development program, and this generation represents the latest push toward the reliability and reusability numbers SpaceX needs to make the vehicle commercially viable.

Why the FAA clearance matters

The Federal Aviation Administration’s investigation into the Flight 12 mishap is worth pausing on. Every Starship flight operates under a launch license, and any anomaly during a mission triggers a mandatory FAA review before the next flight can proceed.

The agency wrapping up that investigation in time for a mid-July launch window is a logistical win for SpaceX. Regulatory delays have historically stretched the gap between Starship test flights, so a relatively quick turnaround this time around keeps the program’s momentum intact.

What comes next, and why investors should pay attention

Flight 13 sits inside a larger roadmap. SpaceX has outlined ambitions to begin booster catch attempts in future flights, a maneuver where the launch tower’s mechanical arms, nicknamed “Mechazilla,” grab the Super Heavy booster on its way back down rather than letting it land on legs.

Also on the horizon: Starlink V3 satellite deployments using Starship, targeted for later in 2026. Starlink is SpaceX’s revenue-generating satellite internet business, and moving those deployments onto Starship would allow the company to launch significantly larger batches of satellites per mission compared to the Falcon 9 rockets currently doing that work.

The harder question for investors is what a failed test means. Starship has had explosive anomalies in earlier flights, and each one reset the regulatory clock. A clean Flight 13 keeps the 2026 Starlink deployment timeline realistic. An anomaly pushes that timeline out, which ripples through SpaceX’s internal revenue projections and, by extension, its private market valuation.

Thursday’s window opens at 5:45 p.m. EDT. SpaceX has about 90 minutes to work with before the window closes for the day.

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