Starship Flight 9 goes full stack, all eyes on the launch

SpaceX has fully stacked the Ship 35 over Booster 14 to complete the Starship Test Flight 9 integration and made the rocket vertical on the orbital launch mount at Starbase, Texas. The first launch attempt is set for Tuesday, May 27, 2025, at 6:30 p.m. CT. However, it can be adjusted based on weather and other launch-related scenarios.

The integrated flight stands at 123 meters tall and 9 meters wide. The Super Heavy equips 33 Raptor engines, consuming sub-cooled liquid methane and liquid oxygen. This booster accounts for 71 meters in height and 3,400 tons of propellant capacity. With its engines burning, the rocket generates 7,590 tf of thrust to take off the entire vehicle from the launch pad.

Flight 9 will mark the first-ever reuse of a super heavy. The booster 14-2 was first used during Flight 7 and caught by the launch tower. It will carry 29 out of the 33 flight-proven Raptor engines, which means only four engines are new in this assembly.

This booster is also tagged with several experiments regarding its performance and landing sequence improvements. Therefore, the company will not attempt a catch; instead, splash it down in the Gulf of America. Still, the booster will simulate all of its pre-landing maneuvers and engine burns before landing in the water.

Source – StarshipGazer/X

Upper stage

The ship is responsible for taking the payload into orbit, moon, and to Mars with its 100–150 tons of capacity. It is 52 meters tall and has six dedicated Raptor engines to generate 1,500 tf of thrust during ascent.

During Flight 8, SpaceX lost the upper stage, and the mission didn’t follow the plan. The incident happened due to a flash in the aft section of the vehicle near the center Raptor sea level engines during the ascent. It later caused the engine failure and also damaged other Raptors.

However, such failures have been addressed in Flight 9’s Ship serial 35, and its engines have been tested many times to ensure damage-free objectives execution. After going full-stack, SpaceX will recheck all systems and ground support before initiating the final Starship Flight 9 launch on Tuesday.

(source)