diff --git a/cmd/soroban-cli/src/commands/container/start.rs b/cmd/soroban-cli/src/commands/container/start.rs
index fa12bd03ac..f3befdb930 100644
--- a/cmd/soroban-cli/src/commands/container/start.rs
+++ b/cmd/soroban-cli/src/commands/container/start.rs
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 use std::env;
 use std::process::Stdio;
+use std::time::{Duration, Instant};
 
 use tokio::io::{AsyncBufReadExt, BufReader};
 
@@ -8,13 +9,15 @@ use crate::{
         container::shared::{Error as ConnectionError, Network},
         global,
     },
-    print,
+    print, rpc,
 };
 
 use super::shared::{Args, Name, RunArgs};
 
 const DEFAULT_PORT_MAPPING: &str = "8000:8000";
 const DOCKER_IMAGE: &str = "docker.io/stellar/quickstart";
+const DEFAULT_WAIT_TIMEOUT_SECS: u64 = 120;
+const HEALTH_POLL_INTERVAL: Duration = Duration::from_secs(1);
 
 #[derive(thiserror::Error, Debug)]
 pub enum Error {
@@ -26,6 +29,12 @@ pub enum Error {
 
     #[error("a container named {0:?} already running")]
     ContainerAlreadyRunning(String),
+
+    #[error(transparent)]
+    Rpc(#[from] rpc::Error),
+
+    #[error("timed out after {timeout_secs}s waiting for network at {rpc_url} to become healthy")]
+    HealthCheckTimeout { rpc_url: String, timeout_secs: u64 },
 }
 
 #[derive(Debug, clap::Parser, Clone)]
@@ -58,6 +67,14 @@ pub struct Cmd {
     /// Optional argument to specify the protocol version for the local network only
     #[arg(long)]
     pub protocol_version: Option<String>,
+
+    /// Do not wait for the network RPC endpoint to report healthy before returning
+    #[arg(long)]
+    pub no_wait: bool,
+
+    /// Maximum time in seconds to wait for the network RPC endpoint to become healthy
+    #[arg(long, default_value_t = DEFAULT_WAIT_TIMEOUT_SECS)]
+    pub wait_timeout: u64,
 }
 
 impl Cmd {
@@ -72,6 +89,84 @@ impl Cmd {
     }
 }
 
+pub fn resolve_rpc_url(ports_mapping: &[String]) -> String {
+    let mut fallback: Option<(String, String)> = None;
+
+    for mapping in ports_mapping {
+        let cleaned = mapping.trim().split('/').next().unwrap_or_default().trim();
+        let parts: Vec<&str> = cleaned.split(':').collect();
+        match parts.as_slice() {
+            [host_port, container_port] if !host_port.is_empty() && !container_port.is_empty() => {
+                if *container_port == "8000" {
+                    return format!("http://localhost:{host_port}/rpc");
+                }
+                if fallback.is_none() {
+                    fallback = Some(("localhost".to_string(), (*host_port).to_string()));
+                }
+            }
+            [host_ip, host_port, container_port]
+                if !host_ip.is_empty() && !host_port.is_empty() && !container_port.is_empty() =>
+            {
+                let host = if *host_ip == "0.0.0.0" {
+                    "localhost"
+                } else {
+                    *host_ip
+                };
+                if *container_port == "8000" {
+                    return format!("http://{host}:{host_port}/rpc");
+                }
+                if fallback.is_none() {
+                    fallback = Some((host.to_string(), (*host_port).to_string()));
+                }
+            }
+            _ => {}
+        }
+    }
+
+    if let Some((host, port)) = fallback {
+        format!("http://{host}:{port}/rpc")
+    } else {
+        "http://localhost:8000/rpc".to_string()
+    }
+}
+
+pub async fn wait_for_healthy(
+    rpc_url: &str,
+    timeout: Duration,
+    poll_interval: Duration,
+    print: &print::Print,
+) -> Result<(), Error> {
+    let client = rpc::Client::new(rpc_url)?;
+    let start = Instant::now();
+    let mut last_status: Option<String> = None;
+
+    print.infoln(format!(
+        "Waiting for network at {rpc_url} to become healthy..."
+    ));
+
+    loop {
+        if let Ok(resp) = client.get_health().await {
+            if resp.status.eq_ignore_ascii_case("healthy") {
+                print.checkln("Network is healthy");
+                return Ok(());
+            }
+            if last_status.as_deref() != Some(resp.status.as_str()) {
+                print.infoln(format!("Network status: {}", resp.status));
+                last_status = Some(resp.status);
+            }
+        }
+
+        if start.elapsed() >= timeout {
+            return Err(Error::HealthCheckTimeout {
+                rpc_url: rpc_url.to_string(),
+                timeout_secs: timeout.as_secs(),
+            });
+        }
+
+        tokio::time::sleep(poll_interval).await;
+    }
+}
+
 struct Runner {
     args: Cmd,
     network: Network,
@@ -119,9 +214,29 @@ impl Runner {
 
         self.print.checkln("Started container");
         self.print_instructions();
+
+        if !self.args.no_wait && self.is_rpc_enabled() {
+            let rpc_url = resolve_rpc_url(&self.args.ports_mapping);
+            wait_for_healthy(
+                &rpc_url,
+                Duration::from_secs(self.args.wait_timeout),
+                HEALTH_POLL_INTERVAL,
+                &self.print,
+            )
+            .await?;
+        }
+
         Ok(())
     }
 
+    fn is_rpc_enabled(&self) -> bool {
+        let enabled =
+            env::var("STELLAR_CONTAINER_ARGS").unwrap_or_else(|_| "rpc,horizon,lab".to_string());
+        enabled
+            .split(',')
+            .any(|service| service.trim().eq_ignore_ascii_case("rpc"))
+    }
+
     async fn pull_image(&self, image: &str) {
         let mut cmd = self.args.container_args.pull_command(image);
         cmd.stdout(Stdio::piped());
@@ -236,3 +351,131 @@ impl Runner {
         String::new()
     }
 }
+
+#[cfg(test)]
+mod tests {
+    use super::*;
+    use clap::Parser;
+    use std::sync::{
+        atomic::{AtomicUsize, Ordering},
+        Arc,
+    };
+    use tokio::io::{AsyncReadExt, AsyncWriteExt};
+    use tokio::net::TcpListener;
+
+    #[test]
+    fn test_resolve_rpc_url_default() {
+        assert_eq!(
+            resolve_rpc_url(&["8000:8000".to_string()]),
+            "http://localhost:8000/rpc"
+        );
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn test_resolve_rpc_url_custom_host_port() {
+        assert_eq!(
+            resolve_rpc_url(&["9090:8000/tcp".to_string()]),
+            "http://localhost:9090/rpc"
+        );
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn test_resolve_rpc_url_with_host_ip() {
+        assert_eq!(
+            resolve_rpc_url(&["127.0.0.1:18000:8000".to_string()]),
+            "http://127.0.0.1:18000/rpc"
+        );
+        assert_eq!(
+            resolve_rpc_url(&["0.0.0.0:18000:8000".to_string()]),
+            "http://localhost:18000/rpc"
+        );
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn test_cli_flags_no_wait_and_timeout() {
+        let cmd =
+            Cmd::try_parse_from(["start", "local", "--no-wait", "--wait-timeout", "45"]).unwrap();
+        assert!(cmd.no_wait);
+        assert_eq!(cmd.wait_timeout, 45);
+
+        let default_cmd = Cmd::try_parse_from(["start"]).unwrap();
+        assert!(!default_cmd.no_wait);
+        assert_eq!(default_cmd.wait_timeout, DEFAULT_WAIT_TIMEOUT_SECS);
+    }
+
+    #[tokio::test]
+    async fn test_wait_for_healthy_polls_until_healthy() {
+        let listener = TcpListener::bind("127.0.0.1:0").await.unwrap();
+        let addr = listener.local_addr().unwrap();
+        let attempt = Arc::new(AtomicUsize::new(0));
+        let attempt_clone = Arc::clone(&attempt);
+
+        let server = tokio::spawn(async move {
+            loop {
+                let (mut socket, _) = listener.accept().await.unwrap();
+                let mut buf = [0u8; 2048];
+                let _ = socket.read(&mut buf).await.unwrap();
+                let idx = attempt_clone.fetch_add(1, Ordering::SeqCst);
+
+                if idx == 0 {
+                    // Simulate 502 Bad Gateway right after container starts
+                    let resp = "HTTP/1.1 502 Bad Gateway\r\nContent-Length: 0\r\nConnection: close\r\n\r\n";
+                    socket.write_all(resp.as_bytes()).await.unwrap();
+                } else {
+                    // Simulate healthy JSON-RPC response
+                    let body = r#"{"jsonrpc":"2.0","id":1,"result":{"status":"healthy","latestLedger":10,"oldestLedger":1,"ledgerRetentionWindow":100}}"#;
+                    let resp = format!(
+                        "HTTP/1.1 200 OK\r\nContent-Type: application/json\r\nContent-Length: {}\r\nConnection: close\r\n\r\n{}",
+                        body.len(),
+                        body
+                    );
+                    socket.write_all(resp.as_bytes()).await.unwrap();
+                    break;
+                }
+            }
+        });
+
+        let rpc_url = format!("http://{addr}/rpc");
+        let print = print::Print::new(true);
+        wait_for_healthy(
+            &rpc_url,
+            Duration::from_secs(5),
+            Duration::from_millis(50),
+            &print,
+        )
+        .await
+        .unwrap();
+
+        assert_eq!(attempt.load(Ordering::SeqCst), 2);
+        server.await.unwrap();
+    }
+
+    #[tokio::test]
+    async fn test_wait_for_healthy_times_out() {
+        let listener = TcpListener::bind("127.0.0.1:0").await.unwrap();
+        let addr = listener.local_addr().unwrap();
+
+        let _server = tokio::spawn(async move {
+            while let Ok((mut socket, _)) = listener.accept().await {
+                let mut buf = [0u8; 1024];
+                let _ = socket.read(&mut buf).await;
+                let resp =
+                    "HTTP/1.1 502 Bad Gateway\r\nContent-Length: 0\r\nConnection: close\r\n\r\n";
+                let _ = socket.write_all(resp.as_bytes()).await;
+            }
+        });
+
+        let rpc_url = format!("http://{addr}/rpc");
+        let print = print::Print::new(true);
+        let err = wait_for_healthy(
+            &rpc_url,
+            Duration::from_millis(120),
+            Duration::from_millis(30),
+            &print,
+        )
+        .await
+        .unwrap_err();
+
+        assert!(matches!(err, Error::HealthCheckTimeout { .. }));
+    }
+}