In the early morning hours of Dec. 31, 2024, SpaceX ended its year as it began it, with one final launch of Starlink satellites into orbit. The launch marked SpaceX's 134th mission of the year (138 missions if you count Starship test flights).

SpaceX is also flying rudimentary catch fittings on Starship to test their thermal performance on reentry. The ship will fly a more demanding trajectory during descent to probe the structural limits of the redesigned flaps at the point of maximum entry dynamic pressure, according to SpaceX.

SpaceX rolled the upper stage of its Starship megarocket out to the pad this morning (Jan. 9) ahead of its planned Jan. 13 test flight.

Starship is set for liftoff as early as Friday, January 10, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk wrote on X in late December. The past few launches have been a treat, and SpaceX is ready to take it up a notch for lucky number seven.

SpaceX’s most ambitious Starship flight yet will see reused hardware, the deployment of 10 fake satellites and another attempt to catch the booster with “chopsticks”

SpaceX has scheduled Monday, January 13, for the seventh launch test flight of the Starship megarocket from its Starbase facility in Boca Chica, Texas. The launch window will open at 4:00pm local time (3:30am IST) with a live webcast beginning about 35 minutes before lift-off on SpaceX's website and X account.

SpaceX aims to launch the seventh Starship flight test on Jan. 10. It will mark the first time the company attempts to deploy a payload during the flight.