SpaceX has successfully conducted a wet dress rehearsal (WDR) for its Starship vehicle as it prepares for its first orbital flight. This announcement was made on September 24, 2023. During a WDR, the mission teams fuel the rocket and practice all major launch day steps without igniting the engines. With this crucial test completed, Starship is set to launch on September 28, 2023, marking its 14th test flight and aiming to take the 407-foot-tall (124-meter) rocket further than ever before.
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Starship's initial launch occurred in April 2023, followed by 12 suborbital flights of its upper-stage spacecraft, known as Ship. For Flight 14, the 171-foot-tall (52-meter) Ship is expected to achieve orbital speed and will deploy 26 next-generation Starlink Version 3 satellites, the first of a planned 100,000-satellite constellation, according to Elon Musk.
Following its orbital mission, Ship will circle Earth six times before returning to splash down in the Pacific Ocean near Chile. This marks a change in the splashdown zone, as past flights targeted the Indian Ocean off Western Australia. The first-stage booster, Super Heavy, will also have a splashdown approximately seven minutes after launch in the Gulf of Mexico.
SpaceX aims to recover both Ship and Super Heavy using the launch tower's