SpaceX’s Starship Completes First Payload Deployment and Successful Splashdown

SpaceX launched its latest test of the mega rocket Starship on Tuesday night, successfully deploying eight dummy satellites into orbit for the first time and completing a planned splashdown in the Indian Ocean after just over an hour in space.

The test flight lifted off from Starbase, SpaceX’s launch site in South Texas, shortly after 6:30 p.m. It marked the 10th trial of the world’s largest and most powerful rocket, which both SpaceX and NASA aim to use for future lunar missions. NASA has ordered two Starship vehicles to land astronauts on the moon later this decade, while SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has set his ultimate goal as reaching Mars.

No crew members were aboard the demonstration launch. As part of the mission, the rocket’s Super Heavy Booster carried out a successful landing-burn engine sequence and splashed down in the Atlantic Ocean.

The Starship itself entered Earth’s orbit, transitioning from daylight in Texas to night and back into daylight, before descending toward its designated splashdown zone. Ahead of impact, its engines ignited to reorient the spacecraft, allowing it to enter the water upright with its nose cone pointed upward.

The success followed a series of setbacks over the past year. Test flights in January and March ended minutes after liftoff, with debris falling into the ocean. In May, the ninth test failed when the spacecraft lost control and disintegrated. SpaceX later upgraded the Super Heavy booster with larger, stronger fins to improve stability, according to a company statement posted on X earlier this month.

Starship’s testing campaign began in 2023, when its inaugural flight ended in an explosion minutes after launch.

The company’s Starlink program, which launched its first batch of satellites in 2019 using a Falcon rocket from Cape Canaveral, remains a key part of SpaceX’s broader ambitions as Starship continues to advance through its test program.