Today is the big day for SpaceX as the space exploration and astronautics company prepares to launch a Starship test prototype for the 13th time.
Till the last word from the CEO, Elon Musk, the Flight 13 Starship launch (IFT-13) is on track for today (Thursday, July 16, 2026).
Ahead of the Flight 13 test, SpaceX shared some stunning footage of the Starship getting stacked. The following visuals are from last night, just a day before the flight, when SpaceX assembled the world’s largest rocket ship.
For Flight 13, SpaceX assigned Super Heavy Booster 40 as the 1st/lower stage rocket and Starship 40 (Ship 40) as the upper-stage spacecraft. In this mission, both vehicles have their own objectives.
Ahead of the stacking, SpaceX transported the upper stage Ship 40 from the production site to the launch site at Starbase, Texas. SpaceX then tested the forward and aft flaps of Ship 40 for final validation before the flaps are used in the actual mission (primarily to control attitude during descent and to perform the belly flop maneuver).
Starship Flight 13: Flap tests on Ship 40.https://t.co/kmLnBF8Xdk pic.twitter.com/JcLIaGexno
— NSF – NASASpaceflight.com (@NASASpaceflight) July 16, 2026
Stacking Starship for Flight 13 pic.twitter.com/L4XN6gqgRt
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) July 16, 2026
How to Watch Starship Flight 13 Live Streams
SpaceX will live-stream the official Starship Flight 13 webcast on its social media platform X (formerly Twitter). However, if you prefer to watch the live video streams on YouTube, channels like NasaSpaceFlight and Everyday Astronaut will be going live in a few hours from now.
We will create a dedicated live updates page on TeslaOracle.com, which will display the official and YouTube-based live streams of the Flight 13 Starship launch. We will also be covering the flight with live text updates and commentary.
So, stay tuned as we start the live updates page around an hour before the launch window (around 5:00 PM Central Time / 6:00 PM Eastern Time).
Related: Check out the Live Streams and Live Updates (text commentary) | Elon Musk shares the reason for Flight 13 abort
Stay tuned for future updates on Starship and SpaceX. Follow us on:
Google News | X (Twitter) | Flipboard | WhatsApp Channel | RSS (Feedly).
Related Starship News and Updates
- Starship 40 begins its journey from the Indian Ocean back home to Starbase, Texas
- After Starship’s 60-second 6-engine static fire, SpaceX rolls out Flight 14 Booster 21 for pre-launch testing
- Flight 13 Starship (S40) completes one month in the Indian Ocean, watch the latest recovery efforts by SpaceX
- Starship Flight 14: SpaceX performs a single-engine static fire test on Ship 41, Starbase updates (videos)
- Tesla to reportedly unveil the next-gen Roadster in August, with SpaceX thrusters of-course
- Space, Connectivity, AI: Key takeaways from Elon Musk’s SpaceX Q2 2026 Earnings Call
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