SpaceX has scheduled the 13th flight test of its Starship rocket for Thursday, July 16, with a 90-minute window starting at 2245 UTC. The mission will mark the first deployment of next-generation Starlink V3 satellites. Twenty of these satellites will be released during a sub-orbital lob, where they will deploy antennas and solar arrays to establish laser connections with the existing Starlink constellation.

A key objective of the flight is monitoring the vehicle's heat shield. Six of the deployed satellites are equipped with cameras to observe the shield's performance. To assist in this evaluation, SpaceX has painted several heat shield tiles white to simulate missing sections and act as visual targets.

Because they follow a sub-orbital path, the satellites are expected to burn up in the atmosphere roughly 20 minutes after release. This mission follows a May test that, while largely successful, suffered from a failed "soft" touchdown of the Super Heavy Booster in the Gulf of Mexico.

SpaceX attributed the previous booster failure to a 90-degree error in the directional flip caused by engine startup discrepancies. Additionally, five of the 33 booster engines failed to relight, resulting in an early end to the boostback burn and a subsequent FAA investigation. The Starship upper stage also lost one of its three Raptor engines after separating from the booster during that flight.