SpaceX has set 6:30 p.m. Central Time on 24 August for the tenth integrated test flight of its Starship launch system from the company’s Starbase facility in South Texas. Ground crews this week completed loading Starlink satellite mass simulators into the vehicle and used the Mechazilla tower to stack the 52-metre-tall Ship 37 upper stage atop its Super Heavy booster, clearing a key pre-flight milestone. The upcoming mission will be the first Starship flight to carry hardware representative of an operational payload, providing data on bay deployment mechanisms and aerodynamic performance. The uncrewed test is expected to follow a sub-orbital trajectory designed to demonstrate engine relight, controlled re-entry and a splashdown in the Indian Ocean, building on lessons from nine earlier flights. Success is critical for SpaceX’s plans to fly cargo and eventually astronauts on the fully reusable system, which NASA is counting on as the lunar lander for its Artemis program and which Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk sees as the foundation for human missions to Mars.