Starship has flown seven times to date, most recently on Jan. 16. That mission was a mixed bag; SpaceX caught Super Heavy with the "chopstick" arms of Starbase's launch tower about seven minutes after liftoff as planned, but Ship suffered a serious problem and ended up detonating over the Atlantic Ocean.

Elon Musk confirmed on X that Starship’s 8th test launch is set for Friday. SpaceX launched Starship for the seventh time last month, but the launch ended in a fiery explosion, with debris lighting up the sky over Turks and Caicos.

Vandenberg Space Force Base’s public affairs team hit on the idea of taking the reenlistment photo during a rocket launch.