Flight 1: First integrated Starship stack clears the pad
On April 20, 2023, Ship 24 and Booster 7 lifted off from Starbase for the first fully integrated flight test — clearing the pad before multiple engine outs ended the attempt short of stage separation.
What happened
SpaceX flew the first fully integrated Starship and Super Heavy from Starbase on April 20, 2023. The goal was not a polished orbital profile — it was to clear the pad, gather ascent data, and learn what the stacked system actually did in flight.
Liftoff at 8:33 a.m. CT put Booster 7 and Ship 24 over the Gulf. The vehicle reached about 39 km — then the highest Starship flight yet — before multiple Raptor outs, a tumble, and commanded flight termination on both stages.
Ascent
Getting a 33-engine Super Heavy and Ship stack off Pad 1 was itself a first. The flight validated early ground-system and vehicle interactions that static fires could not fully replicate.
Engine-out behavior and control authority under those failures became the primary lessons heading into Flight 2.
What it unlocked
SpaceX treated the attempt as a data haul: pad deluge and flame-trench redesigns followed, along with vehicle changes aimed at longer burns and stage separation.
Flight 1 proved the stack could leave the mount. Everything after that was about keeping it flying longer.