SpaceX Starship SN10 high-altitude test flight slips to March 3

Starship SN10 and test tank SN7.2 stand tall under a hazy Boca Chica sunset. Credit: Nicholas D’Alessandro / Spaceflight Insider

The high-altitude test flight of Starship SN10 has slipped again, as is common with SpaceX’s highly-experimental test program.

The flight was expected to take place March 1, 2021, with Boca Chica Village residents getting the standard evacuation notice the previous night. However, within three hours of that notice the villagers had reported the evacuation was now canceled and the flight was expected to take place no earlier than Wednesday, March 3.

Associated temporary flight restrictions, known as TFRs, and road closures for the flight attempts on Monday and Tuesday were also canceled shortly thereafter, with new backup TFR windows being issued for March 4-6.

Monday’s weather is forecast to be inclement with an approaching cold front causing low visibility foggy conditions with a high chance of thunderstorms in the afternoon, a likely reason for the push to the right. With all previous pre-flight tests for Starship SN10 completed over the course of last week, including a 48-hour turnaround for a Raptor engine swap between static fires, all eyes will now remain on the weather as the major factor for when a launch will take place.

Meanwhile work continues at a feverish pace at the build facility with Starship SN11 standing ready to roll out of the High Bay, SN15 in position to take its place and the very first Super Heavy booster prototypes BN1 and BN2 taking shape nearby.

March 2, 2021 UPDATE:  A more in-depth pre-launch article has been published, and available for reading, HERE.

Starship SN11 peeks out of the High Bay ready to roll out to the launch site. Credit: Nicholas D’Alessandro / Spaceflight Insider

Starship SN10 stands ready for a test flight with a freshly reinforced and painted landing pad lined with remote cameras nearby. Credit: Nicholas D’Alessandro / Spaceflight Insider

Tagged: Boca Chica SN10 SpaceX Starship The Range

Nicholas D'Alessandro

Nicholas D'Alessandro was born and raised in Southwest Florida. The seeds of his interest in Space Exploration were planted when the Shuttle's sonic boom upon re-entry would reverberate through his childhood home even across the state; the knowledge that a real life spacecraft was passing overhead and could have that effect was fascinating to him. A middle school field trip to the Kennedy Space Center cemented that fascination, and with an additional interest in the bleeding edge of automotive technology and Teslas, it was the story of Elon Musk's path to Cape Canaveral with SpaceX that finally led Nicholas to move to the Space Coast and, after joining Spaceflight Insider in 2020, begin documenting the dawning era of commercial spaceflight.