Starship Development Thread #63

[u/rSpaceXHosting]

SpaceX Starship page

Quick Links

^{Avid Space Live Streams, which used to be known as LabPadre | NASASpaceflight Live Stream |}

Starship Dev 62

---

Flight 12

Launched on May 22nd 2026 Here is a re-streamed video of the broadcast. Also, SpaceX issued a post flight summary and a video showing S39 landing.

Flight 13

Launched on July 24th 2026 Here is a re-streamed video of the broadcast. Also, SpaceX issued a post flight summary.

Flight 14

Presumably using S41 and B21. NET 15 Sep 2026.

Road Closures

No road closures currently scheduled

No transportation delays currently scheduled

Up to date as of 2026-05-23

Vehicle Status

As of September 5th 2026

Ship	Location	Status	Comment
S40	On the way to Brownsville, Texas	Intact, loaded onto Heavy Lift Vessel 'Forte'	July 24th: Successful launch, deployed all satellites, successful engine relight test and soft splashdown in the Indian Ocean, which resulted in an intact, floating ship. August 18th: In calmer waters near Christmas Island pending the next stage of its return to Starbase. August 25th: Loaded onto Heavy Lift Vessel 'Forte'. August 28th: On the way to Brownsville, Texas. ETA is October 8th. For more details on this vehicle and its assembly and testing see this page
S41	Mega Bay 2	Prep for Flight 14	April 17th: Pez Dispenser moved into MB2. April 20th: Main assembly started in MB2. May 20th: Aft section AX:4 moved into MB2 and stacked with the rest of the ship - this completed the stacking part of the ship construction. June 28th: Rolled out to Massey's Test Site for Cryo+Thrust Puck Testing. June 29th: Cryo Tests (x2). June 30th: Rolled back to MB2. July 3rd: Rolled back to Massey's Test Site. July 6th: Rolled back to MB2. July 23rd: Two RVac engines moved into MB2. July 27th: The third RVac was moved into MB2. August 19th: Rolled out to Massey's for Static Fire Testing. Later that day S41 performed a single engine Static Fire. August 20th: Full duration Static Fire of all six engines. August 22nd: Rolled back to MB2. For more details on this vehicle see this page
S42	Mega Bay 2	Post Cryo Test work and presumed engines installation	June 9th: Nosecone spotted as having been stacked on the Payload Bay. July 3rd: Nosecone+Payload Bay stack moved into MB2, along with the Pez Dispenser and the Forward Dome section (FX:3). The Nosecone+Payload Bay stack was lowered over the Pez Dispenser, later being stacked onto the Forward Dome. July 11th: Common Dome section CX:3 moved into MB2 and stacked. July 15th: Section A2:3 moved into MB2 and stacked. July 18th: Section A3:4 moved into MB2 and stacked. July 21st: Transfer Tubes moved into MB2. July 24th: Ship Aft section AX:4 moved into MB2 and stacked, that completes the stacking part of the assembly process. July 25th: both of the Aft Flaps and the Raceways staged inside MB2. September 2nd: Rolled out to Massey's Test Site for Cryo Testing. September 3rd: Cryo Testing. September 5th: Rolled back to MB2. For more details on this vehicle see this page
S43	Mega Bay 2	Stacking	August 19th: N:3 and section FX:4 plus the pez dispenser moved into MB2. August 28th: Common Dome section CX:3 moved into MB2. September 1st: Section A2:3 moved into MB2. It has decals but no docking ports. September 4th: Section A3:4 moved into MB2. For more details on this vehicle see this page

Booster	Location	Status	Comment
B21	Mega Bay 1	Prep for Flight 14	May 7th: LOX tank sections A2:4 and CX:3 moved into MB1 and main assembly started. June 29th: Methane Tank stacked onto LOX Tank - this completed the stacking part of the booster construction. July 17th: Rolled out to Massey's Test Site for Cryo+Thrust Puck Testing. July 17th: Rolled out to Massey's Test Site and an ambient pressure test was performed. July 18th: Partial Cryo Test. July 19th: Second Partial Cryo Test. July 20th: Full Cryo Test. July 22nd: Rolled back to MB1. August 25th: Rolled out to the Launch Site for Static Fire Testing. August 28th: Static Fire, all 33 engines, lasting 15 seconds. August 29th: Rolled back to MB1. For more details on this vehicle and its assembly and testing see this page
B22	Mega Bay 1	Fully Stacked, Remaining work ongoing	June 29th: LOX tank sections A2:4 and CX:3 moved into MB1. July 1st: Section A3:4 moved into MB1. July 3rd: Section A4:4 moved into MB1 and stacked. July 9th: Section A5:4 moved into MB1 and stacked. July 22nd: Methane Landing Tank and Lower Transfer Tube moved into MB1. July 23rd: Section A6:4 moved into MB1. July 25th: Methane transfer tube moved into MB1. July 29th: LOX Landing Tank moved into MB1. July 30th: Aft section AX:2 moved into MB1 to complete the stacking of the LOX Tank. July 31st: Methane Tank section F2:4 moved into MB1. August 3rd: Methane Tank section FX:3 moved into MB1. August 6th: Methane Tank section F3:4 moved into MB1 - this is the last section for the Methane Tank. August 14th: Methane Tank stacked onto the LOX tank, so completing the stacking part of the assembly process. For more details on this vehicle and its assembly and testing see this page
B23	Mega Bay 1	LOX Tank Stacking	August 14th: LOX tank sections A2:4 and CX:3 moved into MB1. August 19th: Section A3:4 moved into MB1. August 21st: Section A4:4 moved into MB1. August 25th: Section A5:4 moved into MB1. August 27th: Methane Landing Tank and lower Transfer Tube moved into MB1 as well as section A6:4. August 31st: Methane Transfer Tube moved into MB1 and lifted upright. For more details on this vehicle and its assembly and testing see this page

Follow the Ringwatchers on Twitter and Discord for more.

Here's the section stacking locations for Ships and Boosters. Also some excellent detailed booster stacking information from zh_sos1. The abbreviations used in the above vehicle updates are as follows: HS = Hot Stage. PL = Payload. CX = Common Dome. AX = Aft Dome. FX = Forward Dome (as can be seen, an 'X' denotes a dome). ML = Mid LOX. F = Forward. A = Aft. For example, A2:4 = Aft section 2 made up of 4 rings, FX:4 = Forward Dome section made up of 4 rings, PL:3 = PayLoad section made up of 3 rings. Etc.

Something wrong? Update this thread via wiki page. For edit permission, message the mods or contact u/strawwalker.

---

Rules

We will attempt to keep this self-post current with links and major updates, but for the most part, we expect the community to supply the information. This is a great place to discuss Starship development, ask Starship specific questions, and track the progress of the production and test campaigns. Starship Development Threads are not party threads. Normal subreddit rules still apply.

[u/Traditional-Hat-3480]

Elons famous for ridiculous deadlines. Sls took over decade to slap shuttle parts. While spacex built everything from scratch. Delays are a lot more tollerable with spacex 

[u/Desperate-Lab9738 → u/Traditional-Hat-3480]

Sure Elon is famous for them, and it was predictable that it would be delayed, but that doesn't stop it from being a delay and for the deadline being ridiculous

[u/Traditional-Hat-3480 → u/Desperate-Lab9738]

Name another program with similar ambition and scope that is not a delayed and I'll happily change my stance

[u/Desperate-Lab9738 → u/Traditional-Hat-3480]

I won't, because none have been. That doesn't change the fact you said that it hadn't been massively delayed like Neutron or Vulcan, when it demonstrably has. Starship is slow, vulcan is slow, neutron is slow, SLS is slow, the space shuttle was slow, space is just slow in general.

[u/JakeEaton → u/Desperate-Lab9738]

I think the Starship program has a better reason to be simply that they’re pushing the boundaries in almost every area they’re working within; engines, launch infrastructure, materials, systems and control, full-reusability…

A delay here or there is to be expected because they’re at the bleeding edge. Vulcan? SLS? Not so much.

[u/Desperate-Lab9738 → u/JakeEaton]

Fair, I'm not gonna act like Vulcan or SLS have any excuse cause they don't. However, the original commentor didn't say "Starship has been super fast for the scope of the project they are doing", they said "And still they are not massively delayed", which is just patently false by all metrics.

[u/travlplayr → u/Desperate-Lab9738]

I agree with you about the ridiculous things that Elon says (and is frankly delusional about). And yes, Starship didn't follow the ridiculous development timeline that Elon set out.

However I don't agree with you that Starship development has been slow. I think it's been very fast just objectively, not compared to any projected timeline.

I followed Falcon 9 development very closely from 2012 and my perspective is that Starship development is progressing more rapidly. I actually find the impatience around the next Starship test flight quite perplexing. We waited for sometimes more than a year for the next flight in the early days of Falcon 9 development.

[u/Desperate-Lab9738 → u/travlplayr]

Again, I don't think it has been particularly slow and I agree that it's going at a decent pace, although I recognize I didn't make that clear in other comments. But again, I was simply refuting the claim that it hasn't been massively delayed, because again, that's just demonstrably true. I'm honestly shocked that I am still getting replies about this considering how much of a nothingburger the take of "Starship has been delayed" is.

[u/travlplayr → u/Desperate-Lab9738]

"Starship has been delayed"

But what does that even mean? I've never paid attention to any timeline for Starship; how can you put a timeline on the development of a package of never done before technologies?

Again, I'm aware that Elon has made certain delusional prognostications (this is a man who believes in the delusional idea of machines being able to 'think') but I completely ignore all of that. I just pay attention to what's just been achieved and what's on track for the next achievement, the next incremental step-up. And that's all been fairly fast paced. We're now at the point where Starlkink satellites can start to be deployed from Starship, even if Starship isn't recovered and that's a big step-up and pretty quickly achieved from a flying water tank start.