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SpaceX CEO Elon Musk says Starship (BFS) hop tests could start in early 2019

Starship... or BFWTF? :) (NASASpaceflight /u/bocachicagal)

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8 years ago

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SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has taken to Twitter to share an unexpected wealth of detail about the “radical” and largely unpublicized design changes the company’s Starship and Super Heavy (BFS & BFB) have undergone in 2018.

Beside information ranging from discussions of metallurgy to overall design philosophy and comparisons, the eccentric CEO also offered the most concrete target yet for the beginning of prototype spaceship (BFS/Starship) hop tests in South Texas – “March/April [2019]”.

On one hand, this expeditious new testing schedule – acknowledged by Musk himself to be “much sooner than expected” – is a thrilling prospect, given that it implies that a nearly full-scale prototype of Starship (or something vaguely approximating the spacecraft) could take its first baby steps into the air as early as the first quarter of 2019. On the other hand, however, this is an almost bafflingly large schedule change considering that SpaceX President and COO Gwynne Shotwell asserted that a prototype of BFS (now Starship) could begin “hopping” by late 2019, speaking in September 2018.

Schedules (especially aerospace program schedules) do certainly tend to be chaotic and jumpy, but it’s almost inconceivable that any given project – regardless of the scope or scale – could wind up reaching completion nine months earlier than previously forecasted without suffering one or several dramatic compromises, typically involving lower-fidelity testing and prototypes or watered-down deliverables. It’s unclear if BFR has suffered the same fate, but – to put it lightly – the South Texas sight greeting the eyes of close followers of SpaceX’s BFR program is downright unbelievable.

BFWhat?!

Given the very recent and conspicuous additions of triangular appendages that look precisely like rudimentary fins and an obvious nose cone assembly, the only possible conclusion to draw from photos of SpaceX’s Boca Chica facilities taken in the last week or two is that the company (and/or contractors) are busy building something related to Starship. At least in these early stages, the… thing being built could be best described as what might come to mind if you asked an imaginative kid to build a full-scale sculpture of Tintin’s spaceship on a budget of maybe $500,000.

More likely than not, this could be a case of things being more than they seem. To most, it may almost look like an elaborate prank, but that assumes that we know the full story and have a decent working understanding of aerospace prototyping. For the vast majority of us, that is simply not the case – what looks like a spade is probably not a spade.

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At the end of the day, the most basic of observations – that this purported ‘Starship prototype’ will begin hop tests with extraordinarily powerful Raptor engines installed as few as three months from now – suggest that this spooky metal contraption will be used to conduct the most basic of Starship tests. As such, it will probably never travel much faster than Falcon 9’s Grasshopper and F9R predecessors, which tended to gently accelerate from the ground to as high as a kilometer or two before slowly heading back down for a powered landing.

 

Given that SpaceX has already refined this complex and challenging task to a reliable science with Falcon 9 and Merlin 1D, it’s unclear why a very similar test campaign would be of serious value to the company without simultaneously testing full-fidelity control surfaces (fins), exotic new stainless steel propellant tank technologies, and more. Perhaps SpaceX just really wants to ensure that Starship will be capable of landing and taking off from an unprepared and angled surface of the type it could (will?) experience on Mars. Maybe the company simply wants to have a bare-minimum flying platform capable of testing and refining multi-engine configurations of Raptor.

Taken by NSF user bocachicagal, this photo shows a small glimpse of a panel-less portion of one of the odd shiny structures popping up in Boca Chica. It certainly does not look like the sort of thing that could stand up to high-speed intra-atmosphere flights. (bocachicagal – NASASpaceflight)

All that can be said for sure at the moment is that the public simply does not have the full story to explain the moderately shocking activity going on in Boca Chica. Musk did state that he would provide another technical update on the status of Starship and the BFR program as a whole in the first half of 2019, but only after the first Starship hopper flights have begun. It would seem that those on the sidelines will simply have to wallow in confusion and wild speculation for another ~3-4 months at minimum, hopefully only going moderately insane as a result.

In the meantime, copious thanks are owed to NASASpaceflight members bocachicagal and Nomadd for their relentless and thorough coverage of SpaceX’s activities in the obscure far south of the Texan coast, as well as their courteous permission for media outlets like Teslarati to republish their photos. Cheers!

For prompt updates, on-the-ground perspectives, and unique glimpses of SpaceX’s rocket recovery fleet check out our brand new LaunchPad and LandingZone newsletters!

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Eric Ralph is Teslarati's senior spaceflight reporter and has been covering the industry in some capacity for almost half a decade, largely spurred in 2016 by a trip to Mexico to watch Elon Musk reveal SpaceX's plans for Mars in person. Aside from spreading interest and excitement about spaceflight far and wide, his primary goal is to cover humanity's ongoing efforts to expand beyond Earth to the Moon, Mars, and elsewhere.

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SpaceX Starship Flight 15: How to watch the double catch attempt

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4 hours ago

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November 13, 2026

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Credit: SpaceX

UPDATE: The FAA has granted the license for Starship Flight 15.

SpaceX is set to attempt its 15th test flight of Starship this evening from Starbase, Texas.

SpaceX is targeting Starship Flight 15 for a launch as soon as today, Friday, November 13, pending an FAA Flight License, during a 75-minute window that opens at 4:45 p.m. CT (5:45 p.m. ET) from Orbital Launch Pad 2 at Starbase, Texas. The flight remains pending final regulatory approval.

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The mission, using Booster 22 and Ship 42, aims to achieve the first full recovery of an orbital launch system. Primary objectives include a tower catch of the Super Heavy booster roughly six and a half minutes after liftoff and the first-ever tower catch of a Starship upper stage after more than 22 hours in space.

SpaceX will perform Starship double catch attempt with Flight 15

Between those catches, Ship 42 is planned to enter a low Earth orbit of about 275 km, complete roughly 14 orbits, and deploy 26 next-generation Starlink V3 satellites (Starlink Group 31-2). Three of those satellites carry cameras to inspect the ship’s heat shield in orbit and help controllers decide whether the vehicle is healthy enough for a return to the tower.

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Contingency ocean splashdown options exist if either stage is not cleared for catch.

To watch the attempt, check the link to the broadcast in both X posts in this article. The live webcast is scheduled to begin about 30 minutes before liftoff and is planned to continue through the ship catch the next day, with the possibility of extended onboard views during the orbital coast via Starlink.

Because the schedule is dynamic, check back here or on our social media channels for the latest updates on window timing and regulatory status. A successful dual catch would mark a major milestone toward making Starship a rapidly reusable rocket capable of frequent flights.

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Tesla trims Model Y offerings as All-Wheel-Drive gets the axe

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7 hours ago

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November 13, 2026

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Credit: Tesla

Tesla has trimmed its Model Y offerings as its Standard All-Wheel-Drive configuration has been removed from the online configurator after roughly nine months on sale. The move follows the removal of the Cybertruck, as its trims have also been minimized as that vehicle heads for total discontinuation at the end of Summer 2027.

Launched in February 2026 as a mid-tier dual-motor option between the Rear-Wheel-Drive model and the Premium trims, the Standard All-Wheel-Drive Model Y offered 294 miles of range and a 4.6-second 0-60 mph time in a stripped-down package.

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With it gone, the cheapest new AWD Model Y buyers can configure is now the Premium AWD at $49,990, with estimated deliveries pushed into January–March 2027. The $39,990 rear-wheel-drive Model Y remains available for custom orders, and some AWD units are still listed in inventory.

The move arrives days after Tesla sharply narrowed its Cybertruck lineup. New orders for the Dual Motor AWD and Premium AWD versions have been disabled, leaving only the high-performance Cyberbeast—priced around $109,990 before fees—as the sole configurable option.

Elon Musk has stated that Cybertruck production at Gigafactory Texas will wind down around the middle to late summer of 2027 to free manufacturing space for greater Cybercab output. Tesla has raised prices on remaining trims and is prioritizing higher-margin builds while working through an existing order backlog that exceeds what the line can complete before conversion.

These parallel decisions reflect a broader effort to simplify Tesla’s retail customer lineup. Lower-volume or lower-margin variants are being phased out or deprioritized in favor of core, higher-spec models that generate stronger profitability and clearer production planning.

For the Model Y, this concentrates volume on the remaining RWD and Premium configurations while Premium deliveries already stretch into 2027. For the Cybertruck, it accelerates the transition away from a stainless-steel pickup that underperformed relative to initial volume expectations.

Tesla Model Y Standard Full Review: Is it worth the lower price?

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The freed capacity and reduced complexity directly support Cybercab scaling. Tesla began pilot Cybercab production at Giga Texas in early 2026, launched paid autonomous rides in Austin in September, and is preparing for substantial volume growth.

By streamlining the existing vehicle portfolio, the company is reallocating factory space, engineering attention, and supply-chain resources toward its purpose-built Robotaxi, which lacks a steering wheel or pedals and is designed exclusively for unsupervised autonomy.

The result is a leaner retail lineup today and a clearer path to high-volume Cybercab deployment tomorrow.

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Elon Musk

SpaceX Starship is going for a catch that could change spaceflight forever

SpaceX will try to catch both Starship stages today, a first for any orbital rocket.

Published

7 hours ago

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November 13, 2026

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SpaceX Starship V3 flight 12

SpaceX is set to launch Starship Flight 15 from Starbase on Friday afternoon, and if both stages make it back to the tower, the mission will go down as the first time an orbital rocket has ever been fully recovered. The 75 minute launch window opens at 4:45 p.m. CT from Pad 2, a day after SpaceX rolled Ship 42 out to the pad and shared photos of the move on X.

The first catch comes quickly. About six and a half minutes after liftoff, Booster 22 is scheduled to fly back to Starbase and settle into the launch tower’s chopstick arms, the first catch attempt for SpaceX’s V3 Super Heavy. SpaceX has caught the booster three times before most recently in March 2025.

The second catch is the one that has never been done. Ship 42 will climb to an orbit about 275 kilometers up, deploy 26 Starlink V3 satellites and complete about 14 orbits. Three of those satellites carry cameras to inspect the ship’s heat shield before it commits to coming home. If its reentry, landing burn and tower approach systems pass their checks, the ship will fire its engines to leave orbit, fall through the atmosphere in its belly flop position, flip vertical and drop into the tower about 22 and a half hours after launch, on Saturday afternoon. SpaceX gave a preview of that maneuver in an animation during its third quarter earnings webcast.

Elon Musk described a successful double catch on that call as “the first time that an orbital launch vehicle has been fully recovered” and a “profound technology milestone,” putting the odds of catching the ship at “more likely than not.” SpaceX has called it a potential “breakthrough moment in making Starship a reliable, rapidly reusable rocket,”

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Reuse is where the economics change. Falcon 9 lands its boosters routinely, but its upper stage is thrown away on every flight. Starship is designed so both stages can be refueled and flown again, which is key to cutting launch costs. That matters for Starlink, where each V3 satellite is expected to carry roughly 10 times the download capacity of the V2 Mini satellites flying today, and for Starmind, SpaceX’s planned constellation of AI compute satellites.

It matters for NASA too. Starship is the lunar lander for the Artemis program, and reaching the Moon requires refilling a ship in orbit using several tanker flights. That plan only works if Starships can fly again and again. Musk has said he expects Starship to reach a weekly launch cadence in the first half of 2027.

Investors are paying attention. Morgan Stanley’s Adam Jonas wrote this week that a catch of both stages would likely be “a material positive” for SpaceX stock.

The last Starship flight in September reached orbit for the first time but ended after about three hours with a splashdown in the Pacific, short of its planned 10 hours, after some engines shut down. Since then, Booster 22 has completed a full 33 engine static fire and Ship 42 a six engine firing, as Teslarati previously reported. As of Friday morning, SpaceX was still waiting on the FAA to approve a license change covering the ship’s return over land.

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