SpaceX completes 13th Starship test flight, deploys 20 Starlink V3 satellites

SpaceX launched its massive Starship rocket on its 13th test flight Friday evening from the company's launch facility in Starbase, Texas. The flight was the first since SpaceX's record initial public offering last month, following earlier delays due to weather and technical issues.

The SpaceX Starship and Super Heavy v3 Booster lifts off on its 13th test flight from Starbase, Texas, U.S., July 24, 2026. — Steve Nesius | Reuters

Flight Details

• The rocket's Super Heavy booster detached from the Starship spacecraft approximately two minutes into the flight and made a controlled splashdown in the Gulf of Mexico.
• SpaceX stated the landing was not perfect: the booster "attempted to relight its engines for the landing burn," but only a subset successfully ignited before a "hard splashdown."
• The upper stage of the rocket achieved a "soft splashdown" in the Indian Ocean, with SpaceX noting it came "to rest intact in the Indian Ocean and providing critical views of an intact heatshield for the first time."
• Employees referred to the test flight as "lucky number 13" during a livestream of the event.

Starlink V3 Satellite Deployment

About 18 minutes into the flight, SpaceX successfully deployed 20 of its new Starlink V3 satellites into orbit — the first opportunity for the company to observe their in-flight performance. The satellites were designed to burn up after approximately 20 minutes.

Key features of the new satellites, produced at SpaceX's facility in Redmond, Washington:

• Larger and more powerful than earlier Starlink satellites
• Equipped with solar arrays generating twice as much power as prior generations

SpaceX is also developing Starmind satellites, which the company intends to launch and eventually use as orbital data centers.

Starship's Role and Future Missions

Designed by Elon Musk's aerospace and defense contractor, Starship is the largest rocket ever built or flown. It is intended to be fully reusable and capable of lifting more cargo into orbit at lower cost. The rocket is considered crucial for:

• Rapidly expanding SpaceX's Starlink satellite internet network
• Launching the new, larger Starlink satellites
• Returning U.S. astronauts to the moon's surface
• Powering future manned missions to Mars

SpaceX is preparing Starship for a major NASA test flight next year. Friday's test flight marked the second for Starship V3, the latest version of the rocket.

Expert Analysis

TMF Associates' Tim Farrar, a satellite services industry expert, said the test flight showed SpaceX has made progress with Starship but "remains a long way from achieving rapid reusability of the entire ship." He noted problems SpaceX had relighting its Raptor engines on Friday, adding: "Any similar failure during an attempted landing at the company's launch site could cause severe damage to the launchpad."

Previous Delays

In a post on X, SpaceX said it delayed an earlier test flight planned for Thursday "due to weather." The company also scrubbed a test flight on July 16 after the rocket's booster triggered a hold, which "shut down the engines right as they were starting to ignite," a SpaceX employee explained during a livestream.

Stock Performance

SpaceX's stock has dropped in four of the past five weeks, slumping 43% from its peak close on June 16.

WATCH: SpaceX falls below its IPO price: Investor's next move

Video | 5:26 | Halftime Report

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