Elon Musk’s spaceflight and astronautics company SpaceX has announced the initial date for the 8th Starship launch and landing test.
“The eighth flight test of Starship is preparing to launch as soon as Friday, February 28,” SpaceX announced in an official post on X (Twitter).
A regulatory approval by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is also pending at the time of this writing. The FAA normally publishes licenses on its official website on Wednesdays.
Therefore, Starship’s Flight 8 test (IFT-8) will be conducted no earlier than (NET) Friday, 28th February. The flight launch window will open at 5:30 p.m. CT.
Related updates: SpaceX has rescheduled the Flight 8 test | Flight 8 scrub live-updates archive
A live webcast of the flight test will begin about 40 minutes before liftoff, which you can watch here and on X @SpaceX. You can also watch the webcast on the X TV app. The launch window will open at 5:30 p.m. CT. As is the case with all developmental testing, the schedule is dynamic and likely to change, so be sure to check in here and stay tuned to our X account for updates.
SpaceX official press update
According to flight advisory data, SpaceX has backup launch windows until 6th March.
Backup launch windows are used if weather conditions, regulatory approvals, or technical difficulties don’t permit the flight test. Starship Flight 7 was delayed three times in a row because of unfavorable weather conditions last month.
All the operations of Starship Flight 7 went well until the upper stage Ship 33 experienced a rapid unscheduled disassembly (RUD) due to technical failures.
The Flight 7 upper stage Ship 33 carried dummy Starlink V2 satellites as the first-ever payload. However, due to the RUD, the planned experiments weren’t accomplished.
Just like Flight 7 Ship 33, Flight 8 Ship 34 is a V2 (2nd-gen prototype) Starship. SpaceX made a ton of upgrades and improvements to Starship V2 that are going to be tested in the Flight 8 launch and landing-catch test on Friday.
SpaceX Official Flight Update
Since Flight 7 Starship’s upper stage experienced a RUD and SpaceX flew a V2 Starship for the first time, the spaceflight company is going to be much more cautious and prepared for the Flight 8 launch.
SpaceX published a press release detailing its preparations for the next flight. The data from the previous launch and successful landing of Flight 7 Booster 14 plays a vital role in improvements and decision-making this time.
“After completing the investigation into the loss of Starship early on its seventh flight test, several hardware and operational changes have been made to increase the reliability of the upper stage,” SpaceX wrote in its official Flight 8 update.
“The upcoming flight will target objectives not reached on the previous test, including Starship’s first payload deployment and multiple reentry experiments geared towards returning the upper stage to the launch site for catch. The flight also includes the launch, return, and catch of the Super Heavy booster,” SpaceX confirmed that the landing catch of Booster 15 will be attempted during the Flight 8 test.
Starbase Updates
Flight 8 Starship consists of two major components Super Heavy Booster 15 (lower/1st stage) and Ship 33 (upper/2nd stage). Both of these components are advanced prototypes SpaceX has developed and refined over the years after hundreds of experiments and seven launch tests.
With the official announcement of Starship Flight 8 happening as soon as Friday, 28th February, SpaceX has accelerated the preparations at the Starbase, Texas launch site.
In the latest developments at Starbase, SpaceX has moved the Flight 8 hot-staging ring and Booster 15 to the launch pad just a few hours before this writing (videos below). In the last few days, SpaceX has been testing the launch tower Chopsticks to prepare them for Booster 15 like it successfully did the last time.
The next steps are to mount the Flight 8 Super Heavy Booster 15 on the Orbital Launch Mount (OLM) Pad A. SpaceX staff will then install the hot-staging ring onto the booster before mounting Ship 34 on it.
Until the last reports before this writing, Ship 34 was inside Mega Bay 2. Stay tuned as we bring you further Flight 8 updates during the week and live updates on the launch day.
Starship Flight 8: Welcome to the launch site, Booster 15.https://t.co/nm6FbwaU7s pic.twitter.com/lHcWHgrmAH
— NSF – NASASpaceflight.com (@NASASpaceflight) February 25, 2025
Starship Flight 8: Hot Staging Ring insisted on its own taxi to the launch site.https://t.co/nm6FbwaU7s pic.twitter.com/Z9WHhLPTIE
— NSF – NASASpaceflight.com (@NASASpaceflight) February 25, 2025
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