Starship Flight Test 3

Starship test flight mission patch

Starship flight 3 (unofficially IFT-3) is planned for NET February 2024. Ship 28 (S28) and Booster 10 (B10) are chosen to fly on this mission. A propellant transfer between the header tank and main tank is planned.Per FCC filing, it is speculated that, unlike on Flight 1 and 2, SpaceX plans to launch Starship into a 235 km apogee and perform a powered landing of the Ship in the Indian Ocean as opposed to the Pacific Ocean. Additionally Flight 3 is intended to reach Orbit, do a payload bay door test, and preform an in space engine burn from the header tank to de-orbit the spacecraft towards a splashdown area.

Ship 28 and Booster 10 have now completed their testing campaigns. Ship 28 did 2 static fires, one with 6 engines and one with 1 engine. Booster 10 is the first Booster to skip the spin prime test and went straight into a static fire of all its engines. The only remaining test is a WDR (Wet Dress Rehearsal).

## Timeline of Announcements and Updates

### 12 January 2024

Elon Musk held a company talk at Starbase about everything SpaceX accomplished in 2023, and what the plans for 2024 are. Here is a summary for everything Starship and Flight 3 related.

* New Starship tower at Boca Chica confirmed. Will be used so SpaceX can upgrade the older tower.
* Development plans are made for Starship to carry 200 tons of payload while fully reusable.
* A new PEZ door design was shown in a new render.
* Currently targeting the end of this year for first Starlink to launch on Starship
* Ship to Ship refueling hopefully this year, certainly next year.
* Starship V2 will have performance upgrades.
* Starship V3 will be stretched. Total stack will be 140-150 meters tall.
* Ship 25 was lost during Flight 2 because of LOX venting which caused a fire.
* Flight 3 will include a in-flight engine burn, a PEZ door demonstration and a header to main tank transfer.

### 9 January 2024

Jessica Jensen, Vice President of Customer Operations and Integration for SpaceX, gave an update about Starship Flight 3 in a NASA press conference for Artemis.

* Starship Flight 3 hardware will be ready in January and SpaceX expects an FAA license in February.
* For the third test flight of Starship there will be a transfer test from the header tank to the main tank.
* Current target for an HLS demo landing is 2025.
* SpaceX estimates 10 launches are needed to fuel the HLS Starship.

### 21 December 2023

Video of Kathy Lueder's speech at the SpaceX Post Launch Conference has been released. With that we've been able to confirm and deny some facts from the news article:

* SpaceX is indeed planning to add another Pad at Starbase.
	+ "Looking at adding another pad, because with the cadence we'd like to have getting that second pad ready was gonna be another goal we have for this year"
* Kathy has not said that engine testing will be happening at Massey's, only that they're moving more of their testing there.
	+ "Using our Massey's test site [...] what it allows us to do is keep our test operations at the Massey's test site and away from the beach. [...] We're moving more of our testing over there"
* Booster 9 RUD was, according to Kathy, a deliberate termination. RUD of Ship 25 was not mentioned.
	+ "After the second Starship flight we separated and then terminated the first stage"
* SpaceX is submitting applications for Flight 3 & 4.
	+ "Submitting for our flight 3 and flight 4 applications"

### 13 December 2023

Kathy Lueders update in Brownsville:

* SpaceX is in the process of submitting flight approvals and amendments for flights #3 and #4
* They will continue to monitor sound levels especially during low cloud cover and higher winds
* Both Starship and Booster RUD likely due to AFTS and they are working on the mishap investigation to conclude why
* Hoping to start catching boosters sometime in 2024
* Confirmed plans of second tower at Starbase and moving engine testing to Massey
* Planning for multiple flights in 2024
* Says they are aiming for 1Q 2024 for IFT-3, says unlikely to achieve December despite Elon's aspirations

### 07 December 2023

SpaceX released the recap video and confirmed that Ship 28 and Booster 10 (Starship 10/28) will take flight on IFT-3.

### 04 December 2023

Marcia Smith: "At the Natl Acad cmte meeting, NASA's Lakiesha Hawkins shows a slide that says SpaceX will do a **propellant transfer demo** on their next Starship test."

### 19 November 2023

Elon Musk: "Starship Flight 3 hardware should be ready to fly in 3 to 4 weeks. There are three ships in final production in the high bay (as can be seen from the highway)."

### 9 November 2023

The most recent FCC filling shows that SpaceX intends to launch IFT-3 into a **235km apogee**, and perform a powered landing of the Ship in the Indian Ocean, as opposed to the Pacific Ocean during IFT-1 and 2: "The Starship-Super Heavy test flight will originate from Starbase, TX. The booster stage will separate and will then perform a partial return and land in the Gulf of Mexico. The orbital Starship spacecraft will continue on its path to an altitude of approximately 235 km before performing a powered, targeted landing in the Indian Ocean."

## References

1. ↑ https://vxtwitter.com/SpcPlcyOnline/status/1731731958571429944
2. ↑ https://apps.fcc.gov/els/GetAtt.html?id=336490
3. ↑ https://twitter.com/SpaceX/status/1745941814165815717
4. ↑ https://twitter.com/SpaceX/status/1745941814165815717
5. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M4K4rjlpDjE
6. ↑ https://youtu.be/fQwpPIOfyPk?t=1035
7. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fQwpPIOfyPk&t=1050s
8. ↑ https://youtu.be/fQwpPIOfyPk?t=1667
9. ↑ https://youtu.be/fQwpPIOfyPk?t=2212
10. ↑ https://myrgv.com/local-news/2023/12/12/starbase-general-manager-discusses-future-plans-at-invite-only-brownsville-event/
11. ↑ https://discord.com/channels/577909263012462594/732227281006755922/1184355269568888922
12. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C3iHAgwIYtI&ab\_channel=SpaceX
13. ↑ https://twitter.com/SpcPlcyOnline/status/1731731958571429944
14. ↑ https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1726422074254578012
15. ↑ https://apps.fcc.gov/els/GetAtt.html?id=336490