SpaceX has successfully launched another of its colossal Starship rockets on a test mission this past Monday, achieving flight halfway across the globe while deploying mock satellites as seen in previous tests.
The Starship — recognized as the largest and most powerful rocket ever constructed — roared into the evening skies from southern Texas.
The booster detached and executed a controlled landing in the Gulf of Mexico as intended, while the spacecraft traversed the edge of space before descending into the Indian Ocean. Unfortunately, no components were recovered.
“Welcome back to Earth, Starship!” SpaceX’s Dan Huot exclaimed as the team celebrated. “What an incredible day.”
This marked the 11th test flight for a full-scale Starship, a vehicle that SpaceX founder and CEO Elon Musk envisions will facilitate human travel to Mars. For NASA, the need is more urgent, as the agency cannot successfully land astronauts on the Moon by the end of the decade without the 403-foot (123-meter) Starship, designed to transport them from lunar orbit to the surface and back.
For the first time, Musk decided to step outside of Launch Control to witness the launch — describing it as a “much more visceral experience.”
The last test flight in August was celebrated as a success after a series of earlier explosive failures, following a similar trajectory with comparable objectives.
This flight included enhanced maneuvers for the spacecraft.
During its descent over the Indian Ocean, SpaceX carried out several tests to practice future landings back at the launch site.
Consistent with previous flights, Starship transported eight mock satellites resembling SpaceX’s Starlink.
The entire mission lasted a little over an hour, launching from Starbase, located near the Mexican border.
Nasa’s acting administrator, Sean Duffy, commended Starship’s advancements, stating, “This is another significant leap toward placing Americans on the Moon’s south pole,” through a post on X.
Additionally, SpaceX is upgrading its launch facilities at Cape Canaveral to support Starship launches, alongside the smaller Falcon rockets currently used for NASA missions to send astronauts and supplies to the International Space Station.
