Since April 2023, Starship has been launched 9 times, with 4 successes and 5 failures. The vehicle Starship composes when combined with the Super Heavy booster, also named Starship,[1] has been developed with the intention of lowering launch costs using economies of scale.[2] SpaceX aims to achieve this by reusing both rocket stages, increasing payload mass to orbit, increasing launch frequency, creating a mass-manufacturing pipeline and adapting it to a wide range of space missions.[3][4] Starship is the latest project in SpaceX's reusable launch system development program and plan to colonize Mars.[5]
There are three versions of Starship: Block 1 (also known as Version 1 or V1), Block 2, and Block 3, the proposed variants include a depot, Starship HLS, and Starship Crew. Block 2 Starships are designed to be compatible with Block 1 and with future Block 2 boosters.[6] As of May 2025, Block 1 vehicles have been retired, and three Block 2 vehicles have flown so far.[7] The Starship spacecraft is reusable, and is recovered via large arms on the tower capable of catching the descending vehicle.[8] As of May 2025, 1 vehicle have been refurbished and subsequently flown at least a second time, though the ability to catch a vehicle was proven during Starship's fifth and later seventh and eighth flight tests, with Booster 14 being the first to achieve reuse.[9][10]
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