SpaceX launched its biggest, most beefed-up Starship yet on Friday, sending the upgraded spacecraft to its final target in the Indian Ocean after an hourlong test flight that started from the southern tip of Texas. The launch carried 20 mock Starlink satellites, released midway through the mission, as the company tested a larger configuration of its next-generation rocket system.
The redesigned mega rocket, known as an upgraded version of Starship, debuted two days after SpaceX CEO Elon Musk announced he was taking the company public. Musk later told his team via X, “You scored a goal for humanity,” describing the launch and landing as “an epic.” SpaceX said the end-of-flight fire was not unexpected, after the spacecraft reached its destination despite some engine trouble.
Officials planned the mission as part of the rocket’s ongoing test campaign aimed at landing astronauts on the Moon. SpaceX said the vehicle is among the test flights it is building toward for eventual Mars missions, but NASA’s Artemis program is the near-term driver of crewed lunar landing work and related docking practice.
Jared Isaacman, the NASA administrator who flew in for the launch, said Starship is now “one step closer to the moon.” NASA’s broader timetable includes a series of steps in which Artemis astronauts will work with spacecraft docking concepts both in orbit and, later, during lunar landings.
The spacecraft used SpaceX’s third-generation Starship configuration, designated V3, replacing earlier versions that had already flown. The prior, older space-skimming Starships lifted off in October, and Thursday’s attempt was thwarted by last-minute issues at a brand-new launch pad at Starbase near the Mexican border, according to the report.
On Friday’s flight, there was no fireball at liftoff, but not all engines fired as the booster attempted a controlled return, the report said. SpaceX’s vehicle then had to make do with fewer engines while keeping an eastward trajectory about 120 miles (194 kilometers) up, before the spacecraft plummeted upright into the Indian Ocean seemingly under control and then toppled over and ignited.
SpaceX said the redesigned rocket did not recover any hardware on this latest trial run. The Gulf of Mexico marked the end of the redesigned first-stage booster’s flight, while the Indian Ocean served as the end point for the spacecraft and its satellite demonstration payloads.
As part of the test data, two modified, camera-equipped Starlink satellites were ejected from the spacecraft and provided brief views of the vehicle in flight, which the report described as a first. The report said the newest model eclipses older Starship lines at 407 feet (124 meters), while its redesigned booster uses fewer but bigger and stronger grid fins for steering the returning stage and a larger fuel transfer line sized to feed 33 main engines.
SpaceX’s Starship program remains closely tied to NASA’s lunar lander procurement. The report said NASA is paying billions of dollars to SpaceX and also to Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin for lunar landers used to land Artemis astronauts on the Moon, with both companies competing to be first.
In parallel, NASA is building toward an Artemis docking trial in orbit around Earth planned for next year, after April’s successful lunar flyaround by Artemis astronauts. For Artemis III, astronauts will practice docking their Orion capsule with Starship, Blue Moon, or both; an Artemis IV mission that could land two astronauts may follow as soon as 2028, the report said.
The flight also underscores the company’s commercial ambitions beyond Artemis, with SpaceX taking reservations for private flights to the moon and Mars on Starship. The report cited California businessman Dennis Tito, described as the world’s first space tourist, and said Tito and his wife signed up about 3 1/2 years ago for a trip around the moon, with timing uncertain. It also said Chinese-born bitcoin investor Chun Wang announced he will fly to Mars on Starship’s first interplanetary mission, and that no price tag or date has been revealed for his trip.