Bertha Thwarts SpaceX's Do-Over of Starship Flight 13

"A key objective for the flight test is to get clear imagery from the ground of Starship's heatshield as it flies at a higher dynamic pressure during ascent, which won't be possible with today's weather conditions," SpaceX said on X. "Visibility is forecast to be ideal for a Friday attempt."

The mission will mark the second Starship flight of 2026. It follows a last-second abort on July 16, when some of its engines failed to ignite. SpaceX has swapped out two of Starship's Raptor engines and conducted additional testing on the ground, Gizmodo reports. In Flight 13, the Super Heavy booster and Starship upper stage -- together the largest rocket ever flown -- will largely repeat May's Flight 12 profile, aiming for controlled splashdowns in the Gulf of Mexico and the Indian Ocean, rather than attempting SpaceX's signature "chopstick" tower catch, Space.com reports.

This outing adds a key twist: deployment of 20 next-generation Starlink V3 satellites on a suborbital path, designed to test higher-capacity broadband hardware and laser links before they intentionally burn up. Six satellites will carry cameras to inspect Starship's heat shield, while new load-sensing tiles will measure stress as the vehicle flies a more demanding ascent profile.