The company has been working with an observatory and the US National Science Foundation to study the effects of lowering its satellites to 350km (217 miles) versus 550km.

After separation from the upper stage, the lower-stage booster will attempt to return to Starbase to land at its launch tower. The company achieved the feat during the fifth flight of Starship on Oct. 13 but was unable to repeat it on the sixth flight in November. That booster diverted to a water landing in the Gulf of Mexico.

SpaceX successfully launched its first Starlink mission of 2025 from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida on Monday. SpaceX sent 24 of the communication satellites to low-Earth orbit.

SpaceX is significantly upping the ante of its Starship test flight program, with the next rocket launch expected to demonstrate payload deployment for

SpaceX is gearing up for a launch that will send 24 Starlink satellites from Central Florida to low-Earth orbit on Monday.