Starship | Flight 13 — visibility, launch time & where to look
13th test flight of the two-stage Starship launch vehicle. Second flight of Starship V3. For the first time, Starship will carry 20 V3 Starlink satellites to space, which will extend solar arrays and antennas and will attempt to connect with ground stations in South Africa and the larger Starlink constellation via high-capacity lasers. 6 of the satellites have been modified with a suite of cameras to scan Starship’s heat shield and transmit imagery down to operators to continue testing methods of analyzing Starship’s heat shield readiness for return to launch site on future missions. Several tiles on Starship have been painted white to simulate missing tiles and serve as imaging targets in the test.
Launch time
- Jul 16, 2026, 10:45 PM UTC
- Jul 16, 2026, 6:45 PM Eastern
- Jul 16, 2026, 3:45 PM Pacific
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Sky outlook at the pad
Daily cloud cover and rain chance at SpaceX Starbase, TX, USA:
- Today
- Tue
- Wed
- Thu Launch day
Forecast at the launch site; check your own sky too — cloud over you can hide a launch the pad forecast says is clear.
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Which cities can see this launch?
Estimated visibility from major towns near US launch sites, assuming clear skies and an open horizon. The 10 most likely first:
| City | Visibility | Look toward | Distance to pad |
|---|---|---|---|
| Port Isabel, TX | Excellent | south-southeast | 6 mi |
| South Padre Island, TX | Excellent | south | 7 mi |
| Laguna Vista, TX | Excellent | southeast | 11 mi |
| Bayview, TX | Excellent | east-southeast | 18 mi |
| Los Fresnos, TX | Excellent | east-southeast | 21 mi |
| Brownsville, TX | Excellent | east-northeast | 22 mi |
| Harlingen, TX | Excellent | east-southeast | 36 mi |
| McAllen, TX | Excellent | east-southeast | 68 mi |
| Corpus Christi, TX | Good | south | 125 mi |
| Port Aransas, TX | Good | south | 127 mi |
Show all 94 cities
| City | Visibility | Look toward | Distance to pad |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rockport, TX | Good | south | 140 mi |
| Laredo, TX | Good | southeast | 179 mi |
| Grand Isle, LA | Excellent | west-southwest | 492 mi |
| Gulf Shores, AL | Good | west-southwest | 647 mi |
| Pensacola Beach, FL | Good | west-southwest | 679 mi |
| Tallahassee, FL | Excellent | west-southwest | 841 mi |
| Valdosta, GA | Excellent | west-southwest | 906 mi |
| Tampa, FL | Good | west | 914 mi |
| Gainesville, FL | Good | west | 940 mi |
| Lakeland, FL | Fair | west | 946 mi |
| Kissimmee, FL | Good | west | 980 mi |
| Orlando, FL | Good | west | 984 mi |
| Jacksonville, FL | Good | west-southwest | 989 mi |
| Sanford, FL | Good | west | 993 mi |
| St. Augustine, FL | Good | west | 1003 mi |
| Palm Coast, FL | Good | west | 1005 mi |
| Daytona Beach, FL | Good | west | 1012 mi |
| Brunswick, GA | Good | west-southwest | 1014 mi |
| New Smyrna Beach, FL | Good | west | 1015 mi |
| Mims, FL | Good | west | 1018 mi |
| Titusville, FL | Good | west | 1019 mi |
| Rockledge, FL | Fair | west | 1022 mi |
| Merritt Island, FL | Fair | west | 1024 mi |
| Melbourne, FL | Fair | west | 1028 mi |
| Palm Bay, FL | Fair | west | 1029 mi |
| Port Canaveral, FL | Fair | west | 1029 mi |
| Cocoa Beach, FL | Fair | west | 1029 mi |
| Satellite Beach, FL | Fair | west | 1029 mi |
| Indialantic, FL | Fair | west | 1031 mi |
| Sebastian, FL | Fair | west | 1035 mi |
| Vero Beach, FL | Fair | west | 1039 mi |
| Port St. Lucie, FL | Fair | west | 1040 mi |
| Fort Pierce, FL | Fair | west | 1043 mi |
| Miami, FL | Marginal | west-northwest | 1054 mi |
| Fort Lauderdale, FL | Marginal | west-northwest | 1056 mi |
| Savannah, GA | Good | west-southwest | 1056 mi |
| West Palm Beach, FL | Fair | west | 1060 mi |
| Hilton Head Island, SC | Good | west-southwest | 1078 mi |
| Charleston, SC | Good | west-southwest | 1136 mi |
| Myrtle Beach, SC | Good | west-southwest | 1215 mi |
| Richmond, VA | Marginal | southwest | 1402 mi |
| Newport News, VA | Fair | southwest | 1434 mi |
| Norfolk, VA | Fair | southwest | 1436 mi |
| Virginia Beach, VA | Fair | southwest | 1451 mi |
| Cape Charles, VA | Fair | southwest | 1462 mi |
| Washington, DC | Marginal | southwest | 1468 mi |
| Exmore, VA | Fair | southwest | 1480 mi |
| Onancock, VA | Marginal | southwest | 1489 mi |
| Annapolis, MD | Marginal | southwest | 1496 mi |
| Pocomoke City, MD | Marginal | southwest | 1509 mi |
| Wallops Island, VA | Marginal | southwest | 1511 mi |
| Chincoteague, VA | Marginal | southwest | 1514 mi |
| Salisbury, MD | Marginal | southwest | 1517 mi |
| Berlin, MD | Marginal | southwest | 1534 mi |
| Ocean City, MD | Marginal | southwest | 1541 mi |
| Dover, DE | Marginal | southwest | 1547 mi |
| Rehoboth Beach, DE | Marginal | southwest | 1553 mi |
| Cape May, NJ | Marginal | southwest | 1568 mi |
| Ocean City, NJ | Marginal | southwest | 1596 mi |
| San Diego, CA | Not visible | — | 1288 mi |
| Long Beach, CA | Not visible | — | 1366 mi |
| Pasadena, CA | Not visible | — | 1372 mi |
| Los Angeles, CA | Not visible | — | 1375 mi |
| Mojave, CA | Not visible | — | 1394 mi |
| Malibu, CA | Not visible | — | 1399 mi |
| Thousand Oaks, CA | Not visible | — | 1410 mi |
| Oxnard, CA | Not visible | — | 1429 mi |
| Ventura, CA | Not visible | — | 1437 mi |
| Bakersfield, CA | Not visible | — | 1447 mi |
| Santa Barbara, CA | Not visible | — | 1462 mi |
| Solvang, CA | Not visible | — | 1490 mi |
| Buellton, CA | Not visible | — | 1493 mi |
| Los Alamos, CA | Not visible | — | 1500 mi |
| Baltimore, MD | Not visible | — | 1501 mi |
| Lompoc, CA | Not visible | — | 1508 mi |
| Vandenberg Village, CA | Not visible | — | 1510 mi |
| Orcutt, CA | Not visible | — | 1511 mi |
| Santa Maria, CA | Not visible | — | 1513 mi |
| Guadalupe, CA | Not visible | — | 1521 mi |
| Fresno, CA | Not visible | — | 1521 mi |
| Pismo Beach, CA | Not visible | — | 1528 mi |
| San Luis Obispo, CA | Not visible | — | 1532 mi |
| Philadelphia, PA | Not visible | — | 1590 mi |
| San Jose, CA | Not visible | — | 1645 mi |
Where to look
A rocket lifts off below the horizon for distant viewers, then climbs into view as it gains altitude and flies downrange. Closer to the pad you'll see it within seconds; a few hundred miles away it can take three to six minutes to rise over the horizon. Find an open view in the direction shown for your city and start watching at liftoff.
Official launch details More from SpaceX ↗
Before you go
- Launch times change — scrubs and delays are common. Re-check the day of.
- Clear skies matter. Low cloud near the pad or along the trajectory can hide the rocket.
- Twilight launches are the most dramatic; daytime launches are the hardest to see at distance.
- Trajectory and timing here are estimates from a representative ascent profile.
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Explore more
Launch data from TheSpaceDevs Launch Library 2. Page generated July 13, 2026.