Starship Flight 9 will feature the first reflight of a Super Heavy vehicle, Booster 14, which previously launched Flight 7. 29 of the 33 Raptor engines on the booster are flight-proven.

The Starship upper stage will attempt to reach engine cutoff, and if so, perform the first re-entry of a Block 2 Starship with upgraded flaps, among many other changes. The two previous Block 2 Starship upper stage prototypes, those launched on Flight 7 and 8, did not successfully reach engine cutoff, and this mission will attempt a repeat of the milestones desired on those flights.