SpaceX says its Starship vehicle could launch from Kennedy Space Center as soon as next year following a V3 test from Texas that may fly in January. Kiko Dontchev posted progress photos from Pad 39A and indicated a Florida launch could follow soon after. The move to Cape Canaveral depends on final Space Force and FAA environmental reviews, which raised concerns about noise, airspace closures and local impacts. Starship still needs an orbital flight and refueling demonstration before it can serve as NASA's Artemis lunar lander.
SpaceX Says Starship Could Launch from Kennedy Space Center as Soon as Next Year
SpaceX says its Starship vehicle could launch from Kennedy Space Center as soon as next year following a V3 test from Texas that may fly in January. Kiko Dontchev posted progress photos from Pad 39A and indicated a Florida launch could follow soon after. The move to Cape Canaveral depends on final Space Force and FAA environmental reviews, which raised concerns about noise, airspace closures and local impacts. Starship still needs an orbital flight and refueling demonstration before it can serve as NASA's Artemis lunar lander.
01:27 AM, 11/18/2025Technology
SpaceX's Starship inches closer to a Florida liftoff
SpaceX's large Starship vehicle is moving toward a potential launch from NASA's Kennedy Space Center, with a senior company official saying a Florida liftoff could happen as soon as next year.
Kiko Dontchev, SpaceX's vice president of launch operations, posted on X on Nov. 16 that work is progressing toward the first Starship flight from Cape Canaveral. Dontchev noted that the upcoming V3 (Version 3) Starship flight from Texas could occur as soon as January and added, "soon after, the first Starship launch from the cape."
No firm date has been announced. Dontchev also shared photos showing activity at Pad 39A at Kennedy Space Center, where a launch mount has recently been installed in preparation for future missions.
Regulatory and environmental hurdles
Starship's transfer to Cape Canaveral depends on final Environmental Impact Statements from the U.S. Space Force and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), expected by year-end. Reviews and public feedback have flagged potential impacts including structural damage to nearby facilities, temporary airspace closures, increased noise levels, effects on local industries such as fishing, and possible road closures during operations.
What Starship is being built for
With 33 Raptor engines, Starship is designed to be a fully reusable heavy-lift system that could eventually carry crews to Mars. NASA has also selected Starship as the human landing system for upcoming Artemis missions to the Moon. However, Starship has not yet completed an orbital flight or demonstrated the crucial orbital refueling capability that lunar missions will require.
Because of those outstanding technical milestones, NASA has urged both SpaceX and rival Blue Origin to accelerate development of their human-rated lander concepts.
Strategic context
NASA is under pressure to return astronauts to the Moon for the first time in more than 50 years while other nations are advancing their own lunar plans; China has announced a crewed lunar mission could occur as soon as 2030.
Infrastructure growth in Florida
SpaceX is expanding ground infrastructure near Kennedy. A new facility dubbed the Gigabay on Roberts Road is under construction to stack and prepare the 232-foot Super Heavy boosters (the lower stages) prior to launch. When fully assembled on the pad, a Starship stack will exceed 400 feet in height. The Gigabay itself will be roughly 380 feet tall — shorter than NASA's 525-foot Vehicle Assembly Building, but still a prominent new landmark near Cape Canaveral.
Plans also call for a future Starship operations area at Launch Complex 37 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.
Reporting note: This report is based on comments and photos posted by Kiko Dontchev and reporting from Florida Today. Brooke Edwards is a Space Reporter for Florida Today (bedwards@floridatoday.com; X: @brookeofstars).