SpaceX successfully launched its 13th integrated test flight of the massive Starship rocket system from its Starbase facility in Boca Chica, Texas, achieving major technological milestones despite a partial anomaly during booster recovery. Powered by 33 Raptor engines, the world’s largest launch vehicle lifted off on a suborbital path after previous countdown attempts were delayed by engine ignition issues and adverse weather. During coast phase in space, the upper stage deployed a batch of 20 next-generation Starlink Version 3 satellites—marking Starship’s first operational payload delivery demonstration. Following stage separation, the Super Heavy first-stage booster experienced a hard splashdown in the Gulf of Mexico when several engines failed to ignite during its final landing burn. However, the upper Starship spacecraft continued flawlessly through peak re-entry heating, surviving atmospheric entry with minimal heat-shield degradation before executing a controlled, vertical flip and achieving its softest ocean splashdown to date in the Indian Ocean. The milestone mission delivers crucial telemetry for NASA’s Artemis lunar program and SpaceX’s broader ambitions for fully reusable interplanetary spaceflight.
SpaceX Executes 13th Starship Test Flight from Texas, Achieving First In-Space Satellite Deployment
