Level 1 — Absolute Beginner
SpaceX will launch its huge rocket, Starship, on July 16. The rocket will fly from a place called Starbase in Texas.
This time, Starship will carry 20 new satellites into space. The satellites are a new kind, called Starlink V3.
Six of the satellites have cameras. The cameras will take pictures of Starship's heat shield to help engineers study it.
After the flight, the big booster part will try to land softly in the Gulf of Mexico. The top part, called Ship, will try to turn on an engine again while in space.
- rocket
- A vehicle that can travel into space
- launch (verb)
- To send a rocket into the air or space
- satellite
- An object sent into space to orbit Earth or another body
- heat shield
- A covering that protects a spacecraft from extreme heat
- engineer
- A person who designs and builds machines or structures
- booster
- The bottom part of a rocket that provides the main power to lift off
- soft landing
- A landing that does not damage the vehicle
- restart (an engine)
- To turn a machine on again after it was turned off
Level 2 — Elementary
SpaceX is preparing to launch Starship on its thirteenth test flight on July 16, lifting off from Orbital Launch Pad 2 at Starbase, Texas, at 6:45 p.m. Eastern time.
This will be the second flight of the upgraded Version 3 Starship, and for the first time, the rocket will carry 20 new Starlink V3 satellites into space.
Six of the satellites have been fitted with cameras that will scan Starship's heat shield during the flight and send images back to engineers, helping them study how ready the shield is for future landings.
Because the flight follows a suborbital path, the satellites will not stay in orbit. They are expected to burn up in Earth's atmosphere about 20 minutes after being released.
- upgraded
- Improved to a newer or better version
- lift off
- To leave the ground at the start of a rocket flight
- fitted with
- Equipped with a particular piece of equipment
- scan (verb)
- To examine something closely, often using a sensor or camera
- suborbital
- Describing a flight path that reaches space but does not complete a full orbit
- release (satellites)
- To let go of something so it separates from the vehicle
- burn up
- To be destroyed by heat, especially while falling through the atmosphere
- readiness
- The state of being fully prepared for something
Level 3 — Intermediate
SpaceX is targeting July 16 for the thirteenth integrated test flight of Starship, with liftoff planned from Orbital Launch Pad 2 at Starbase, Texas, at 6:45 p.m. Eastern time, or 2245 GMT.
The mission marks only the second flight of the upgraded Version 3 configuration and, for the first time, Starship's upper stage will deploy 20 next-generation Starlink V3 satellites, which will extend solar arrays and antennas and attempt to link with ground stations in South Africa via high-capacity laser communication.
Six of the satellites have been outfitted with cameras designed to scan Starship's heat shield during ascent and transmit imagery to engineers, part of an ongoing effort to develop methods for assessing heat-shield readiness ahead of future missions that aim to return the vehicle to its launch site.
Because the flight will follow a suborbital trajectory, none of the satellites will reach a stable orbit; SpaceX expects them to reenter and burn up in Earth's atmosphere roughly 20 minutes after deployment, while the Super Heavy booster attempts a boostback burn and a soft splashdown in the Gulf of Mexico, and Ship attempts an in-space relight of one of its Raptor engines before its own splashdown in the Indian Ocean.
- integrated test flight
- A full test of a rocket's combined stages flying together
- upper stage
- The top part of a multi-stage rocket that carries the payload
- deploy (a satellite)
- To release and put a satellite into operation
- laser communication
- Sending data between spacecraft or ground stations using laser beams
- ascent
- The act of rising or climbing, especially of a rocket
- reenter (the atmosphere)
- To come back into a planet's atmosphere from space
- boostback burn
- An engine firing that reverses a rocket booster's direction to return it
- splashdown
- The landing of a spacecraft in water
Level 4 — Advanced
SpaceX is targeting July 16 for Starship's thirteenth integrated test flight, with liftoff planned from Orbital Launch Pad 2 at Starbase, Texas, at 6:45 p.m. Eastern time, marking only the second outing for the substantially upgraded Version 3 configuration of the vehicle.
For the first time, Starship's upper stage will deploy a full complement of 20 next-generation Starlink V3 satellites, which are designed to extend solar arrays and antennas in flight and attempt to establish links with ground stations in South Africa through high-capacity inter-satellite laser communication, part of the broader push to expand the Starlink constellation's bandwidth.
A subset of six satellites has been outfitted with instrumentation to scan Starship's heat shield during ascent and relay the resulting imagery to engineers, a diagnostic effort central to SpaceX's long-term goal of certifying the heat shield's readiness for missions that return Starship directly to its launch site rather than expending it.
Because the mission follows a deliberately suborbital trajectory, none of the deployed satellites will achieve a stable orbit; all are expected to reenter and disintegrate in the atmosphere within roughly 20 minutes of release, even as the Super Heavy booster attempts a boostback burn culminating in a soft splashdown in the Gulf of Mexico, and Ship separately attempts an in-flight relight of one Raptor engine ahead of its own controlled splashdown in the Indian Ocean.
- outing (informal, test flight)
- An instance of a vehicle being operated or tested
- complement (a full complement)
- A complete set of something needed
- inter-satellite
- Occurring or existing between two or more satellites
- bandwidth
- The capacity of a communication channel to transmit data
- instrumentation
- A set of measuring or monitoring devices fitted to a system
- diagnostic (adj)
- Relating to the identification of the nature of a problem or condition
- certify (readiness)
- To formally confirm that something meets a required standard
- disintegrate
- To break apart into small pieces or fragments
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