SpaceX aims to fly its tenth integrated Starship mission on 24 August, targeting a 7:30 p.m. Eastern launch from its Starbase complex in south Texas. Ship 37 has been loaded with eight Starlink satellite simulators and is being stacked atop a Super Heavy booster equipped with 33 Raptor engines that generate about 16.5 million pounds of thrust, making the nearly 400-foot rocket the most powerful ever built. The uncrewed test is designed to verify Starship’s ability to deploy payloads, re-light an engine in orbit and survive re-entry. SpaceX plans a controlled splashdown of the booster in the Gulf of Mexico and of the upper stage in the Indian Ocean. Success would mark a crucial step toward rapid reusability after a series of mishaps: the upper stage disintegrated on re-entry in May, and a separate prototype exploded during ground testing in June. The Federal Aviation Administration has cleared Flight 10 after closing its investigation into the previous accident, though it warned residents near the launch site to expect significant noise. A draft environmental review released this week also cautioned that future Starship operations from Florida could trigger airport delays of up to two hours, underscoring the programme’s growing impact on commercial airspace. SpaceX says it has spent more than US$7.5 billion on Starbase and plans to invest another US$1.8 billion to build pads at Kennedy Space Center and Cape Canaveral. The company holds US$4 billion in NASA contracts to adapt Starship as the lunar lander for the Artemis III mission slated for 2027, while Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk wants an uncrewed Mars launch opportunity as early as 2026. Rapid progress on Flight 10 and subsequent tests is therefore pivotal for both government and commercial timelines. The Starship attempt caps a busy weekend for SpaceX. Early on 24 August, a Falcon 9 is scheduled to loft 5,000 pounds of cargo to the International Space Station on the CRS-33 resupply mission, highlighting the company’s multi-track push to expand its launch cadence.