Starship flight test 9
ninth integrated flight of SpaceX Starship
Starship flight test 9 was the ninth flight test of a SpaceX Starship launch vehicle. Ship 35 and Booster 14-2 flew on this test flight. This flight launched on May 27, 2025, at 23:36 UTC (6:36 pm CDT, local time at the launch site). The Ship attempted to achieve the objectives originally planned for Flights 7 and 8, which both failed. This mission's booster, the first Super Heavy to re-fly, underwent experiments in-flight to have its capabilities assessed under off-nominal flight conditions, and was expected to splash down instead of being caught.
Ship 35 reached its planned velocity, the first V2 ship to do so. However, it experienced several failures, including a propellant system leak and loss of attitude control preventing the Ship from achieving most of its in-space objectives, leading SpaceX to terminate the flight by passivating the vehicle. The booster disintegrated over the designated splashdown area in the Gulf of Mexico just after landing burn ignition, however, the booster completed its objective of flying under a more aggressive angle of attack than usual and enabling SpaceX to gather data related to aerodynamic control of the vehicle during descent.
Background
Vehicle testing ahead of launch
Ship 35
Ship 35 was assembled in Mega Bay 2, with the configuration of its heat shield hinting at catch hardware. Ship 35 then underwent 3 rounds of cryo testing at Massey's Test Site on March 11 and 12 and was rolled back to the production site on March 13.
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