Sept. 25, 2026 · It landed. The launch-day closure order is posted: beach and highway shut Monday 4:00 to 10:00 AM, with Tuesday and Wednesday on deck

September 25, 2026 · Evening update

It landed. The launch-day closure order is posted: beach and highway shut Monday 4:00 to 10:00 AM, with Tuesday and Wednesday on deck

Mon 4 to 10 AM: Mayor's Order 2026-23 closes Boca Chica Beach and Highway 4 for Flight 14's launch window, with backup days Sept. 29 and 30 — The last local domino. Source: City of Starbase (Sept. 25).

This morning we wrote that the launch-day closure order "could land any hour, most likely today or over the weekend." It landed. Mayor's Order No. 2026-23 is now the newest executed order on the city's beach-access page: Boca Chica Beach and Highway 4, from FM 1419/Oklahoma Avenue to the beach entrance, plus the FAA hazard areas, close Monday, September 28 from 4:00 to 10:00 AM. The order carries its own contingency plan: alternate dates Tuesday and Wednesday, September 29 and 30, same hours, which is the city's read on how many mornings this might take. Like the rehearsal order before it, it's signed by Mayor Bobby Peden under Texas Space Commission Order No. 2025-02, and the paperwork tells its own small story: the PDF carries a declaration of Thursday at 6:11 PM, but it went public on the city page Friday afternoon. The page was still clear at our Friday-morning check, and as of Friday night the third-party closure trackers hadn't picked it up yet.

What the order is, and isn't. It is the strongest ground-level signal yet that Monday is real: the closure brackets the 7:15 to 8:30 AM launch window with almost three hours of pad clearance in front and ninety minutes behind. And it is more than road cones: the order also declares a disaster and directs a mandatory evacuation of the Clear Zone for the window. It is not the license, though. The FAA authorization is still the last regulatory gate, with no issuance posted as of Friday night, and SpaceX's target stays no earlier than Monday pending that approval. For launch morning itself the practical reading is simple: the beach view is off the table while the order is active, which makes South Padre Island the view. The viewing guide covers where to stand, where to stay covers the weekend in between, and the city's text alerts (text BEACH to 866-513-3475) will call any change before the news does.

Sources: City of Starbase — Beach and Road Access (Mayor's Order No. 2026-23, checked Friday night) · SpaceX — Starship Flight 14 (NET Monday, pending regulatory approval) · Starbase Events closure tracker (re-checked Friday night: "No closures currently scheduled")

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