The Red Planet and Earth align properly for interplanetary missions just once every 26 months. The next such opportunity comes in 2026, in November and December, and SpaceX will try to hit it; the goal is to send five Starship Version 3 vehicles to the Red Planet to prove out the vehicle and its associated tech, Musk said.

SpaceX founder CEO Elon Musk, noting how the ninth flight fell short of its objectives, noted that the test had garnered a lot of data to review. He also suggested that the flight cadence for Starship will increase to a launch every three to four weeks.