Starship's flight 11 launch is scheduled for October

The 11th flight test of Starship is preparing to launch as soon as Monday, Oct. 13. The launch window opens at 7:15 p.m. ET.

Monday's launch is the fifth flight test in 2025. The spacecraft is expected to take astronauts to the moon and eventually Mars.

SpaceX is developing Starship as a fully reusable transportation system, meaning the rocket and vehicle can return to the ground for additional missions. In the years ahead, Starship is set to serve a pivotal role in future U.S. spaceflight.

Starship, built by Elon Musk's spaceflight company, SpaceX, has been marked by numerous challenges and successes across 10 flight tests. It has faced explosions and setbacks but also has achieved successful reentries, booster catches, and even reuse of a booster.

How many Starship test flights have been been?

Here’s a look at each SpaceX Starship test flight.

How does Starship compare with other heavy-lift vehicles?

Starship Version 2 is the biggest and most powerful rocket ever built, towering 403 feet when stacked. Version 3, which will debut on Flight 12, is larger still at 408 feet.

NASA's Space Launch System for Artemis missions consists of the rocket itself and the Orion spacecraft. The Artemis campaign is the U.S. space agency’s ambitious goal of not only returning humans to the moon but also establishing a permanent presence there. In the coming years, this initiative could set the foundation for a long-term human settlement on our celestial neighbor and serve as a base for future crewed missions to Mars.

NASA officials have said the Artemis II mission will launch no later than April 2026 and take four astronauts on a 10-day trip circumnavigating – but not landing on – the moon.Starship is a fully reusable system designed to carry crew and cargo to Earth orbit, the moon, Mars and beyond. Starship is currently the most powerful launch vehicle ever developed, with 1.7 million pounds of thrust.

Musk wants to send the first uncrewed Starship to Mars by the end of 2026. The timeline coincides with an orbital alignment around the sun that would shorten the journey between Earth and Mars.

Where does Starship launch?

Starship launches from Starbase, SpaceX's headquarters in South Texas.

Established on May 3, 2025, Starbase is in an unincorporated area of Cameron County just across the Rio Grande from Mexico. After a successful special election for incorporation, the city now covers about 1½ square miles and is about 20 miles from Brownsville, which has a population of about 186,000.

Starbase includes SpaceX's construction and launch site, employee housing, the Ad Astra private school and various other amenities.

Starship's flight path

SpaceX plans to use the flight test to gather data to inform the design of the next iteration of its lower-stage rocket booster, known as Super Heavy, while stress-testing the upper-stage vehicle's heat shield. The company also detailed plans for the upper stage, simply known as Starship, to attempt midflight maneuvers that will be necessary for it to one day be capable of returning to the launch site.

The upper stage is intended to land once again in the Indian Ocean.

For the second time ever, SpaceX also plans to use a Super Heavy booster; it has already been test-flown on a Starship. Additionally, 24 of its 33 engines in the SpaceX Raptor family will be "flight proven," SpaceX said.

For the third time in a row, the booster will not return to the launch site, instead landing in the Gulf of Mexico, now renamed the Gulf of America, as SpaceX attempts to push its performance beyond what has been attempted.

How can I watch the launch?

The launch window is set to open at 7:15 p.m. ET; a webcast begins 30 minutes earlier. You can watch on the SpaceX website

SOURCES USA TODAY Network reporting and research; SpaceX; Reuters; NASA

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: SpaceX to launch Starship's 11th flight test: What to know about past launches

Reporting by Jennifer Borresen and Eric Lagatta, USA TODAY / USA TODAY

USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect