Starship Flight 14's Booster 21 and Ship 41 Finish Testing, Enter Final Checkout

As of September 7, 2026, both vehicles assigned to Starship Flight 14 have completed their required single-vehicle test campaigns and moved into final checkout at Starbase — Ship 41 in Mega Bay 2 and Booster 21 in Mega Bay 1 — with Flight Termination System placards now visible on both bays, indicating FTS hardware has been installed. Booster 21 completed a full-duration 33-engine static fire at Pad 2 on August 28 (producing roughly 9,240 tf of thrust) followed by a chopsticks lift-and-catch rehearsal on the launch tower August 29. Ship 41 completed a single-engine static fire simulating a deorbit burn on August 19 and a 60-second six-engine static fire on August 21, both at Massey's Test Site. The next steps are loading the Starlink V3 payload into Ship 41, then rolling both vehicles out for stacking ahead of the unofficial September 15 no-earlier-than target disclosed in an August 31 FCC filing and CADENA/COMPASS Space Operations planning slides — SpaceX's first attempt at reaching full orbital velocity with Starship.