Fly a long-duration Starship flight test
Before two Starships can transfer propellant, one has to stay in orbit long enough to show how its propulsion, thermal and propellant systems behave over an extended mission. SpaceX names this as the first of its two remaining HLS flight milestones.
Announced
What do the status labels mean?
Announced: it has been said out loud, but we have not seen work toward it yet.
In progress: we can point to tests, hardware or contracts that show work under way.
Partially achieved: part of the job is done and shown, but not all of it.
Achieved: evidence matches the whole “done” description we wrote down.
Uncertain: sources disagree or are missing. We say so instead of guessing.
Paused or cancelled: a reliable source says work has stopped or the plan was dropped.
Full definitions →- Said on
- 30 October 2025
- First target In plain English
What is a target window?
A target window is when the company said something would happen. Sometimes that is an exact day. Often it is only a month, a quarter or a year.
We keep it exactly as vague or as precise as the company did. If they said “2026”, we show 2026. We never turn that into a made-up day in December.
When a company gives a new date later, we keep the old one too. You can always see how the plan moved.
Saying “I’ll visit this summer” is a window. Saying “I’ll visit on 14 July” is an exact date. They are not the same promise.
- 2026Year precision, stated 30 October 2025
- Current target
- 2026Year precision, stated 30 October 2025
- Last checked In plain English
Who checked this, and how?
Each record has a review note. It names who did the check and lists every claim that was compared with its source.
Right now these checks were done with AI help and have not yet been re-read by an independent human editor. We say this plainly on every page rather than hiding it.
A “review due” label means the record is older than two weeks and is scheduled for another look. The content is unchanged until then.
- 18 September 2026Next review due 2 October 2026
What would count as “done”
A Starship launched from Starbase spends an extended period in orbit gathering data on propulsion and thermal behaviour, including long-duration propellant storage and boil-off characterisation, as recorded by SpaceX or NASA.
Why we say this
SpaceX states this test will start with a Starship launched from Starbase spending extended time on orbit, and that a second Starship will then launch to rendezvous with it. Starship V3 is described as designed for long-duration flights with vacuum-jacketed header feed systems and a dedicated cryogenic propellant management system. No long-duration flight has been recorded as flown.
How the date moved In plain EnglishWhat is a target window?
A target window is when the company said something would happen. Sometimes that is an exact day. Often it is only a month, a quarter or a year.
We keep it exactly as vague or as precise as the company did. If they said “2026”, we show 2026. We never turn that into a made-up day in December.
When a company gives a new date later, we keep the old one too. You can always see how the plan moved.
Saying “I’ll visit this summer” is a window. Saying “I’ll visit on 14 July” is an exact date. They are not the same promise.
What is a target window?
A target window is when the company said something would happen. Sometimes that is an exact day. Often it is only a month, a quarter or a year.
We keep it exactly as vague or as precise as the company did. If they said “2026”, we show 2026. We never turn that into a made-up day in December.
When a company gives a new date later, we keep the old one too. You can always see how the plan moved.
Saying “I’ll visit this summer” is a window. Saying “I’ll visit on 14 July” is an exact date. They are not the same promise.
- Stated 30 October 2025 · recorded here 30 October 2025 · current target2026 (Year precision)
First stated target window, given jointly for the long-duration flight test and the propellant transfer flight test.
What actually happened
We have not yet recorded anything that happened towards this promise. That describes our evidence, not the company: things may have happened that we have not written up yet.
Sources In plain EnglishWhere does the evidence come from?
Every status links to the page we read. We record who published it, when, and which part of it supports the claim.
A company saying something proves that the company said it. It does not prove the thing is true. When we can, we look for a second voice: a regulator, a partner like NASA, or an exchange.
If a page disappears later, we flag it. A missing page is not proof that a claim was wrong.
Source rules →
Where does the evidence come from?
Every status links to the page we read. We record who published it, when, and which part of it supports the claim.
A company saying something proves that the company said it. It does not prove the thing is true. When we can, we look for a second voice: a regulator, a partner like NASA, or an exchange.
If a page disappears later, we flag it. A missing page is not proof that a claim was wrong.
Source rules →Who checked this In plain EnglishWho checked this, and how?
Each record has a review note. It names who did the check and lists every claim that was compared with its source.
Right now these checks were done with AI help and have not yet been re-read by an independent human editor. We say this plainly on every page rather than hiding it.
A “review due” label means the record is older than two weeks and is scheduled for another look. The content is unchanged until then.
Who checked this, and how?
Each record has a review note. It names who did the check and lists every claim that was compared with its source.
Right now these checks were done with AI help and have not yet been re-read by an independent human editor. We say this plainly on every page rather than hiding it.
A “review due” label means the record is older than two weeks and is scheduled for another look. The content is unchanged until then.
Claims we compared with their sources
A long-duration flight test and an in-space propellant transfer flight test were both targeted to take place in 2026.
The source states the 2026 target and that exact timing depends on how the V3 flight tests progress. Recorded as a year-precision window.
Approximately five metric tons of cryogenic propellant have been transferred between tanks in space.
Supports an intra-vehicle transfer only. It does not support ship-to-ship transfer, and the source does not date the test, so the outcome is recorded against the statement date with that limitation stated on the record.
Starship V3 carries docking drogues and ship-to-ship propellant feed connections.
Used as evidence of preparatory hardware for propellant transfer, not of a completed demonstration.
What this check could not tell us
- This is an AI-assisted review, not independent human review. A human editor has not yet re-checked these findings.
- Every source checked in this review is a SpaceX company statement. Company statements establish what the company said; they do not independently establish the outcomes as fact.
- Source pages were read through a browser on 18 September 2026. The accessedAt time on each source is normalised to 12:00 UTC on that date rather than recording an exact retrieval instant.
- The SpaceX updates page is a single URL carrying dated sections. Locators identify the section by date and heading because per-update permalinks were not used.
- No regulator or mission-partner source has been checked for this batch, so no FAA, NASA or filed-document claims are published.