Starship is the reason Elon Musk founded SpaceX. It’s the vehicle that will carry and land humans on Mars.

As SpaceX’s multipurpose spacecraft, Starship will be capable of launching substantial payloads to any destination in the solar system, perform lunar exploration for NASA, allow humans to live and work on Mars, and conduct intercontinental point-to-point transportation to destinations across Earth's surface.

During the third high altitude test flight, SpaceX will test three Raptor engines, including the first-ever three-engine air restart––a critical part of the system’s landing ability.  Starship’s aerosurface flaps will control the ship during its skydiver-like “belly flop” descent.

For landing, three three Raptors will be restarted, and Starship will quickly flip from “belly flop” horizontal to vertical.

This restart, flip, and land is the final element of the test that has so-far not been completed by the two previous high altitude test flights in December 2020 and February 2021.

Overall, the Starship system has two main parts: the Super Heavy booster (first stage) and Starship (second stage) itself. These current suborbital tests are of the second stage only.

During trips to and from space, Starship will serve as the spacecraft itself: deploying large payloads, carrying humans, and serving as the reentry and landing craft––just as the Space Shuttles did from 1981 to 2011.

The overall system (rocket booster and spacecraft) has undergone a few name changes over the years, including Big Falcon Rocket (BFR), Interplanetary Transport System (ITS), and the Mars Colonial Transporter.

In November 2018, the system was formally named Starship, with the booster receiving the name Super Heavy.

In July and August 2019, a Starship prototype called Starhopper performed a 20 meter and 150 meter hop test series to gather information on the Raptor engine’s performance in flight.

In April 2020, NASA selected a lunar variant of Starship as one of three designs to compete for human landing contracts to provide crewed access to the Moon as part of the agency’s Artemis program.

In operational mode, Starship will be able to take payloads of at least 100,000 kg / 220,400 lb to any location in the solar system.

Image: Pauline Acalin for Supercluster

Orbital Launch Pad A, often referred to as Pad 1, is the original and currently primary operational launch pad at Starbase, SpaceX’s privately developed launch site near Boca Chica, Texas. Located along the United States–Mexico border on the shores of the Gulf of Mexico, Pad 1 was designed specifically to support the testing and launch of the Starship and Super Heavy launch system. Unlike traditional launch pads that rely on large flame trenches, Pad 1 is built around a massive steel orbital launch mount that elevates the Super Heavy booster above ground level, allowing engine exhaust to disperse outward beneath the vehicle.

Pad 1 supported Starship’s earliest integrated flight tests and played a critical role in validating SpaceX’s unconventional launch infrastructure. Following substantial damage during the first integrated flight test in April 2023, the pad underwent extensive reconstruction. A key upgrade was the installation of a high-capacity water-cooled steel flame deflector system, often referred to as the steel showerhead, designed to absorb extreme heat and acoustic energy during liftoff. These improvements significantly increased pad survivability and enabled a faster operational turnaround.

Adjacent to Pad 1 is the iconic launch and catch tower, commonly nicknamed Mechazilla. This tower is used to stack Starship onto the Super Heavy booster using large mechanical arms and is designed to eventually catch returning Super Heavy boosters after flight. Pad 1 has since supported multiple successful Starship launches and remains the cornerstone of Starbase operations as SpaceX continues refining the Starship system for orbital missions, lunar landings, and future Mars exploration.

Image courtesy of Tom Cross for Supercluster.

The entire Starship system is designed for complete reusability.

To achieve this, SpaceX has built a landing pad at Boca Chica to enable testing and recovery of Starships.

SpaceX is also building a Super Heavy recovery system that would see the launch pad’s tower catch the booster as it flies back to the launch site for recovery and rapid reuse.

Image: SpaceX