SpaceX is set to launch Starship Flight 13 from Starbase in Boca Chica, Texas on July 16, the second flight of the Starship V3 configuration and the first to deploy V3 Starlink satellites
SpaceX's US-based low-Earth-orbit satellite broadband constellation, the world's largest with 10,000 active satellites across 160 countries, at the center of LEO spectrum politics and congestion debates.
full dossier ›SpaceX set July 16 as the launch date for Starship's 13th integrated flight test, with a 90-minute window opening at 5:45 pm CT from Starbase in South Texas, seven weeks after the Flight 12 booster crash on May 22; Flight 13 will test fixes applied after the previous launch's problems and will deploy functioning Starlink satellites, described as operational payloads for the first time on a Starship test
SpaceX's 74th launch of the year adds 24 V2 Mini satellites from Vandenberg
The progressive crowding of Earth's orbital shells, primarily low-Earth orbit, by satellites and debris, raising collision risk globally and threatening a shared orbital commons.
Four operators plan more than 70,000 satellites in the same narrow orbital band, making LEO broadband the most contested frontier in spectrum politics and connectivity geopolitics.
Private investment in commercial space globally hit a record US$55.3 billion in 2025, driven by launch-cost collapse, defence demand, and US-China competition for orbital infrastructure.
SpaceX is a US private aerospace company that controls over 60% of commercial orbital launches globally and operates Starlink, the world's largest satellite internet constellation.
Flight 12 proves the upper stage while the new booster flips and fails, investigation halts the program
Rising avoidance manoeuvres, a $25.8–42.3B decade cost, and a 95% disposal-compliance bar to avert cascade
650+ direct-to-cell satellites, 16M reached, voice and data added, SpaceX rebrands DTC as 'Starlink Mobile'