2026-09-24T13:52:30.915Z Dress rehearsal for Starship Flight 14 is underway now. Starship sits on Starbase Pad 2 ahead of a wet dress rehearsal on September 24. (Image credit: SpaceX) Image credit: SpaceX Image credit: SpaceX Image credit: SpaceX The sun has risen on SpaceX’s towering Starship ahead of the launch of the rocket’s Flight 14 and its first attempt at orbit. The company completed the stacking of Booster 21 and Starship Ship 41 yesterday (September 23), and is preparing to complete a series of tests and a simulated launch rehearsal known as a wet dress rehearsal. “Sunrise at Starbase,” SpaceX said in a post on Monday’s 75-minute launch window opens at 8:15 a.m. EDT (1215 GMT). Instead of the roughly one-hour mission duration of Starship’s previous suborbital launches, Flight 14’s orbital excursion, if all goes as planned, is expected to last nearly 10 hours. Today’s wet dress rehearsal, which involves fully fueling Starship on the launch pad for a full countdown simulation, is expected to conclude later this morning. SpaceX stacks huge Starship rocket ahead of first orbital launch attempt (video) Dawn at Starbase. Opportunistic full stack testing is planned ahead of launch of Flight 14, which is on track for Monday, September 28, pending regulatory approval pic.twitter.com/VnwI5v4eXQSeptember 23, 2026 Josh Dinner Social Links Navigation Staff Writer, Spaceflight 2026-09-22T20:12:51.423Z Starship is stacked on the pad at Starbase SpaceX rolls a super-heavy booster onto the pad ahead of Starship’s 14th flight test, which is scheduled for September 28, 2026. SpaceX posted this photo on X on September 21. (Image credit: SpaceX) We’re just under a week away from the next launch of SpaceX’s giant Starship rocket. The company is targeting a 75-minute window opening at 8:15 a.m. EDT (1215 GMT) on Monday, Sept. 28, for the Starship Flight 14 test launch liftoff and the vehicle’s first attempt to reach orbit. SpaceX brought the mission’s Super Heavy booster (Booster 21) to Pad 2 at the company’s facility in Starbase, Texas, earlier this week, where its ship’s upper stage (Ship 41) is located. It was also delivered last night. The two stages are now stacked, according to NASA Spaceflight, ahead of a wet dress rehearsal (WDR) that is expected to take place on Thursday (September 24). SpaceX announced the goal of Flight 14 on September 28 last week, although the mission has not yet received regulatory approval for launch. Flight 14 is set to be Starship’s first time in orbit and is expected to last much longer than previous flights: about nine hours longer than the spacecraft’s previous one-hour suborbital hops. Both Booster 21 and Ship 41 are scheduled to splash down gently at sea; Super Heavy, after stage separation, and Ship following approximately six full orbits, according to the SpaceX Flight 14 mission page.
