---
title: "SpaceX Installing Nosecone on Starship That’ll Fly Miles High"
description: "SpaceX's SN8 Starship prototype is being fitted with two aerodynamic flaps and a nosecone. In a matter of weeks, it will attempt to fly to 12 miles."
date: "2020-10-23"
modified: "2020-11-05"
authors:
  - name: "Victor Tangermann"
    job_title: "Senior Editor"
    link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor"
url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/spacex-installing-nosecone-starship-fly-12-miles"
categories:
  - "Space"
  - "SpaceX"
  - "Starship"
tags:
  - "elon musk"
  - "SpaceX"
  - "Starship"
  - "the digest"
---

# SpaceX Installing Nosecone on Starship That’ll Fly Miles High

![SpaceX's SN8 Starship prototype is being fitted with two aerodynamic flaps and a nosecone. In a matter of weeks, it will attempt to fly to 12 miles.](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/spacex-installing-nosecone-starship-fly-12-miles.jpg>)
*\<em\>Image: \<a href="https://twitter.com/BocaChicaGal/status/1319434449579368450?s=20" target="\_blank"\>@BocaChicaGal via Twitter\</a\>\</em\>*

## Finishing Touches

After successfully [firing up its three massive Raptor engines](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/spacexs-starship-prototype-fires-up-3-engines-flight-12-miles>) during a test fire earlier this week, SpaceX's SN8 Starship prototype is being fitted with its finishing touches: two aerodynamic flaps and a nosecone.

"Starship is coming together!" SpaceX CEO Elon Musk [wrote on Twitter](<https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1319441920213434368>) on Thursday.

## Towering Figure

SN8 is taking yet another step towards its big event, a test flight to nine miles or roughly 50,000 feet. Previous iterations have only flown to 150 meters, or about 500 feet, so far.

It's the first time SpaceX has installed a flightworthy nosecone on a Starship prototype, as [*Teslarati* reports](<https://www.teslarati.com/spacex-installs-first-high-altitude-starships-nosecone/>). It's also the first to receive two flaps since Musk's space company showed off its [Starship Mark 1 mock up](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/spacex-final-starship-prototype-design>) last year.

Thanks to the nosecone, SN8 now stretches to its full and final height of about 50 meters (165 feet).

## Big Hop

SpaceX will likely perform a second and final static fire test of the three engines, which will eventually — if things go according to plan — take the towering construct to 50,000 feet in a matter of weeks.

If it succeeds, it will be quite the spectacle. The plan is for the prototype to perform a [daring "belly-flop" maneuver](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/elon-musk-next-starship-launch-12-miles-high>) in mid-air as it slows its descent back to Earth.

*Editor's note 11/5/2020: This story originally misstated the planned altitude of SN8's planned test flight. It has been updated.*

**READ MORE:** [SpaceX installs first high-altitude Starship’s nosecone](<https://www.teslarati.com/spacex-installs-first-high-altitude-starships-nosecone/>) \[*Teslarati*\]

**More on Starship:** *[SpaceX President: Starship Could Help Pick Up Space Junk](<https://futurism.com/spacex-president-starship-space-junk>)*

## Author
I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida.

### Author social links  
[Bluesky](<https://bsky.app/profile/vtanger.bsky.social>)