SpaceX's Starship rocket lifts off from Texas for test flight, deploying 20 Starlink satellites in suborbital space

Billionaire Elon Musk’s SpaceX launched its Starship rocket from Texas on Friday (local time), successfully sending its first batch of 20 upgraded Starlink internet satellites into suborbital space. The flight marked the 13th test mission for Starship, which aims to begin regular commercial operations by the end of the year.

The Starship rocket system, which is roughly 400 feet (122 meters) tall, blasted off at around 6:50 p.m. (Eastern Time) from the company’s starbase city in Texas, Reuters reported.

The final test flight was postponed after the launch was aborted on July 16 and was delayed again on Thursday due to heavy cloud cover brought by Tropical Storm Bertha.

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During the mission, Starship launched 20 Starlink V3 satellites, a significantly more capable version offering more bandwidth and faster internet. The satellites briefly linked up with SpaceX’s existing network of roughly 10,000 satellites in orbit before following the spacecraft’s suborbital trajectory back into Earth’s atmosphere, where they burned up as planned.

The test flight featured the latest version of the rocket, which is important to SpaceX’s plans, which include expanding the Starlink satellite Internet service, landing humans on the moon for NASA by 2028 and then deploying thousands of artificial intelligence processing satellites into orbit.

The starship’s missile made a successful splashdown

The mission, which lasted about an hour, ended with the starship reentering Earth’s atmosphere with seemingly minimal scarring to its heat shield, an improvement over previous tests and a step toward Musk’s goal of making the rocket fly and return as routinely as an airplane.

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The approximately 14-story spacecraft restarted its engines to maneuver into an upright position before plunging down into the Indian Ocean, mimicking the landing profile it would use for future missions returning to Texas.

As the spacecraft flew over Earth’s dark side, a camera mounted on the rocket and live-streamed by SpaceX captured thunderstorms flashing with lightning about 118 miles (190 km) below.

SpaceX said that earlier in the flight, about 10 minutes after liftoff, as the Starship accelerated to nearly 16,400 mph (26,400 km/h), its superheavy first stage booster failed to complete a smooth return to Earth and hit the Gulf of Mexico with more force than intended.

Five engines failed to re-ignite to slow the booster’s descent, according to graphics shown during the live stream. During a similar test in May, four engines also failed to restart, causing the booster to hit the bay with considerable force.

During Friday’s test livestream, SpaceX spokesman Dan Huot said, “We were aiming for a softer splashdown, and as you saw, it came with quite a bit of speed.”

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NASA is tracking Musk’s Starship rocket for Artemis III

NASA expects Starship to complete its test phase and enter orbit soon, so the Artemis III crew of four, consisting of three Americans and one Italian astronaut, will be able to try docking their spacecraft next year.

Beyond NASA’s lunar ambitions, SpaceX founder Musk envisions using a starship to establish a city on Mars. The company also began accepting reservations for future tourist missions to Mars and the Moon.

By the end of the year, the Musk-led company aims to use the mammoth Starship rocket to expand its Starlink network with V3 satellites and add enough capacity for regular cellphones to connect directly to the satellites for services outside normal cellular coverage areas.