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SpaceX Starship Integrated Flight Test 2: What to Expect
After a one-day delay to replace a failed grid fin actuator, SpaceX is now less than 24 hours from the second test flight of Starship. SpaceX will have a 20-minute launch window that opens at 7:00 AM CT (13:00 UTC).
Making this test flight is Ship 25 and Booster 9. Ship 25 is powered by 6 Raptor engines (3 sea level and 3 vacuum), and Booster 9 is powered by 33 Raptor engines.
Booster 9 features many upgrades over the last booster to take flight, including better engine shielding and a switch from hydraulic thrust vector controls to electric TVC. Ship 25 didn’t see as many upgrades as the booster, and not much has been shared of any major changes that were made. One change to both vehicles was the improvement of the Flight Termination System, which took much longer to destroy the rocket than expected during the first test.
Launch Day
T minus 2 hours before the scheduled liftoff, the SpaceX launch director will give the go for propellant loading. This process will begin at t minus 1 hour and 37 minutes, and at this point, Booster 9 will begin loading with both liquid oxygen and liquid methane.
T minus 1 hour and 17 minutes, liquid methane will begin loading onto Ship 25, followed by liquid oxygen 4 minutes later at t minus 1 hour and 13 minutes.
T minus 19 minutes and 40 seconds, the 39 Raptor engines on Booster 9 and Ship 25 will begin chilling to prepare for the extremely cold fuel to flow through and prevent thermal shock to engine hardware.
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T minus 10 seconds, the flame deflector installed after the first IFT will begin flowing water.
Super Heavy Booster 9 static fire successfully lit all 33 Raptor engines, with all but two running for the full duration. Congratulations to the SpaceX team on this exciting milestone! pic.twitter.com/1hzs768vHg
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) August 25, 2023
T minus 3 seconds, Raptor engine ignition begins, and thrust begins to build to allow for liftoff.
LIFT OFF!
T+ 2 seconds, the 2nd Integrated Flight Test should now be officially underway, with Booster 9 thundering away from the orbital launch mount.
Liftoff from Starbase pic.twitter.com/rgpc2XO7Z9
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) April 20, 2023
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T+ 52 seconds, Starship and Booster 9 reach Max Q, the area of maximum dynamic pressure on the vehicle will occur here. If (or most) all Raptor engines on Booster 9 are performing nominally, the vehicle will pass through this fairly quickly.
T+ 2 minutes and 39 seconds, Staging. This will be the first time SpaceX has ever attempted hot staging. Almost all of Booster 9 engines will cut out, and Ship 25 will ignite its Raptor engines to separate from the booster. This is all unknown territory from this point on for SpaceX, as the first test flight did not make it this far. SpaceX has yet to clarify how many Ship 25 engines will ignite during this process.
If all goes well, Booster 9 will begin its flip and boost backburn at t+ 2 minutes and 53 seconds, which will last ~54 seconds. Unlike the Falcon 9, the booster is not designed to perform an entry burn.
T+ 6 minutes and 30 seconds after lift-off, Booster 9 will begin its landing burn for a hopeful soft touchdown in the Gulf of Mexico 18 seconds after landing burn ignition. The planned landing area is ~20 miles (32 km) downrange.
Meanwhile, Ship 25 will continue burning its 6 Raptor engines until t+ 8 minutes and 33 seconds, inserted into a sub-orbital trajectory, and then enter a coast phase until its planned reentry North of the Hawaiian islands.
Landing!
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At t+ 1 hour and 17 minutes, Starship will begin feeling the effects of the atmosphere, its first real test for the heatshield. If it survives atmospheric entry, Starship will splash down in the Pacific Ocean at t+ 1 hour and 30 minutes after lift off. SpaceX has said Ship 25 will not attempt a landing burn during this test.
If Starship is able to make it past staging, SpaceX will most likely consider this test a success, but it would be a major accomplishment for Ship 25 to survive entry back through the atmosphere and gather important data for the company.
If you have a chance to make it to South Texas or even the other side of the Rio Grande in Mexico, it’ll be a sight you’ll never forget. If you’re watching from home, SpaceX will begin streaming the launch on X and their website 35 minutes before lift-off.
Questions or comments? Shoot me an email at rangle@teslarati.com, or Tweet me @RDAnglePhoto.
The Trump Administration today made several key moves to help with the deployment of autonomous vehicles by cutting overreaching red tape that has stifled growth and innovation for years.
The moves, which were put forth by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), aim to grant temporary exemptions to at least one company currently, although that could expand in the coming months. Additionally, it will work with organizations to develop standards and a sound but efficient regulatory landscape.
Zoox is the only company mentioned explicitly by the Trump Administration in its press release announcing the new terms today. They will receive a temporary two-year exemption that will allow the commercial deployment of up to 2,500 vehicles annually for two years.
There is a potential exemption for Robomart, Inc., which “requests a temporary exemption from certain FMVSS No. 500 requirements for a low-speed vehicle operated by an ADS without a human driver onboard. NHTSA will publish a separate notice seeking public comment on its merits once the initial evaluation is complete,” the agency said.
Here are the five new terms that Secretary Sean Duffy has implemented through the NHTSA today:
- Allow Zoox to commercially deploy its robotaxis through a temporary exemption.
This temporary exemption will allow the commercial deployment of up to 2,500 vehicles annually for two years, subject to an enhanced, adaptable oversight structure that can evolve as Zoox’s technology advances. - Accelerate development of first-ever AV performance standards through a partnership with SAE Industry Technologies Consortia (ITC).
This partnership will fund a three-year, $5 million “A2SCEND” consortium, bringing together experts to gather data and accelerate creation of the first-ever AV performance standards. This project will inform a single national standard for AV safety to eliminate the patchwork regulatory landscape that has stifled innovation for years. - Publish an interim final rule that allows vehicles manufactured prior to an exemption to be eligible for a commercial deployment exemption.
This rule will modernize the application process and improve access to exemptions for innovators, including AV developers, by granting the NHTSA Administrator the discretion to apply temporary exemptions to vehicles manufactured prior to the effective date of an exemption grant. - Streamline the application process for Part 555 exemptions by updating guidance and soliciting feedback from the public.
By updating the Part 555 exemption process—which allows automakers to temporarily sell a limited number of non-compliant vehicles, primarily to test new technologies—NHTSA is aiming to create a more flexible oversight structure for exemptions and summarize recent AV framework activities, including expanded exemption pathways, streamlined crash reporting, and ongoing efforts to modernize Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (FMVSS). - Establish a new Federal Docket for public feedback on NHTSA’s updated safe AV development and deployment guidance.
NHTSA is updating its technical guidance for AVs for the first time since 2017—focusing on key safety areas like emergency responder interactions, safety management systems, remote assistance, and post-crash behavior to help the industry scale up driverless deployments safely.
Additionally, the NHTSA said it has modernized some safety standards by proposing updates to:
- FMVSS 102 – Transmission shifting
- FMVSS 103/104 – Windshield defrosting and wiping
- FMVSS 110 – Tire placards
- FMVSS 135 – Braking systems
- FMVSS 101 – Controls and displays
- FMVSS 108 – Vehicle lighting
- FMVSS 111 – Mirrors and rearview display
- FMVSS 126 – Electronic stability control systems
- FMVSS 201/208 – Sun visors and warning labels
These changes aim to make the regulatory process for autonomous vehicles more streamlined and efficient, which could help the U.S. gain dominance over autonomous vehicle systems moving forward.
Elon Musk is, in many respects, one of the biggest and most influential figures in modern-day artificial intelligence.
Given that Tesla, SpaceX, and xAI are all looked at in their respective fields as leaders to an extent, each of them has a heavy influence on the future of AI, even though two of them are not thought of, at face value, as AI companies.
Musk has grand expectations for what is to come with AI, not only as a form of assistance to make human lives easier, but to make humans multiplanetary and solve some of the biggest issues that face us today. But even he is astounded by AI’s pace of progress.
He believes that in two years, AI will be so mind-blowing it might be unrecognizable.
Given that AI from 2 years ago feels so old that it should be in a museum, then obviously AI 2 years from now will be mind-blowing https://t.co/TcsKZ8o8OE
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 30, 2026
This progress can be seen in a variety of ways, but perhaps the most popular way people have shown AI’s progress, especially on social media, is through an incredibly arbitrary way of watching Will Smith eat spaghetti:
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The progression in AI of Will Smith eating spaghetti (2023 – 2026) pic.twitter.com/VDv82mB5gs
— internet hall of fame (@InternetH0F) February 10, 2026
This is a great way to show people how AI is improving, especially from a perspective that examines how it can manufacture images and video from prompts. AI is an incredibly complex concept, however, and it goes much deeper than Will Smith eating Italian food.
Musk’s most widely adopted method of AI is likely Tesla Full Self-Driving, which impacts millions of people as they utilize it to increase safety with their travel. Musk has routinely pushed incredibly aggressive timelines for self-driving, especially unsupervised.
Perhaps this perspective is why he feels that things will be solved in a timeframe that is much more aggressive than most of us would think. Regardless, the progress of AI is moving fast, and it seems that Musk’s expectations for it could be high.
But if it can actually achieve full-length motion pictures and even more realistic production value, it will be hard to distinguish between reality and AI very soon.
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Tesla just officially confirmed it has built its 10 millionth car, a major milestone for the company that started producing sustainable electric powertrains less than two decades ago.
In that time, Tesla has truly revolutionized the automotive industry, disrupting the idea of what a car should be, how it should be fueled, and how it truly impacts day-to-day life.
10 million vehicles produced globally.
Congrats to all Tesla teams! pic.twitter.com/JkcraR63bs— Tesla Manufacturing (@gigafactories) July 30, 2026
Tesla achieved this feat across four production facilities: the Fremont Factory in Fremont, California, Gigafactory Shanghai in China, Gigafactory Berlin in Germany, and Gigafactory Texas in Austin, Texas.
The 10 millionth vehicle was a Diamond Black Model Y.
Over the course of the past roughly 18 years, Tesla has evolved its lineup from a sporty sedan built on a Lotus body to a lineup of various body styles, performance metrics, and other characteristics that make each one unique.
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This is an incredible achievement for a company that is young compared to what it goes up against. When Tesla entered the automotive market, Ford, GM, and Stellantis widely dominated the playing field. Since then, Tesla has caused such a disruption that these three massive brands had to scramble to create EV projects of their own.
Despite their best efforts, they have not been able to match the prowess or the effectiveness of Tesla. They are all reliant on Tesla’s charging infrastructure, their software is inferior, and their self-driving projects are elementary in comparison.
Tesla felt its fair share of growing pains over the years as well. As recent at 2019, there were complaints about build quality, paint quality, and overall luxuriousness. These things have all been improved upon through the company’s maturity, and these strides in quality have led to this 10 million vehicle production achievement, something that other small-and-scrappy EV makers will hope to accomplish one day.
Autonomous vehicle red tape gets slashed by Trump Administration
Elon Musk has a crazy prediction about AI in two years
