SpaceX launched the largest and most powerful rocket ever built on Friday, sending its third-generation Starship — dubbed V3 — on a sweeping test flight that ended with a controlled splashdown in the Indian Ocean roughly an hour after liftoff. The 407-foot (124-metre) vehicle lifted off from Starbase, a launch facility near the southern tip of Texas close to the Mexican border, at around 5:30pm local time, carrying 20 mock Starlink satellites that were successfully deployed during the flight.
The mission achieved most of its major objectives, though not without some hiccups. One engine malfunctioned during an initial burn, meaning the spacecraft did not reach exactly the correct orbit — something SpaceX spokesperson Dan Huot described as not "nominal orbital insertion" but still "within bounds" of a previously analysed trajectory. The Super Heavy booster, which separates from the upper stage after launch, also failed to complete its so-called boost-back burn and fell uncontrolled into the Gulf of Mexico rather than making the precision return SpaceX had hoped for. Neither stage was being recovered on this flight. Despite those issues, SpaceX employees watching the livestream cheered at splashdown, and Elon Musk called the flight "epic" on X, writing: "You scored a goal for humanity." NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman echoed the sentiment, saying it was "one step closer to the Moon… one step closer to Mars."
The V3 design represents a significant upgrade over its predecessors. It is taller and more powerful than earlier versions, features improved heat shielding and enhanced computer and navigation systems, and is equipped with docking cones for future rendezvous and lunar missions. The booster has been redesigned with fewer but larger grid fins and a bigger fuel transfer line to feed its 33 main engines. SpaceX experienced back-to-back midair explosions during test flights last year, making a largely clean run this time an important confidence boost. Thursday's launch attempt had been scrubbed after a hydraulic pin in the launch tower failed to retract; SpaceX said the issue was corrected overnight.
The stakes extend well beyond engineering milestones. NASA is paying SpaceX billions of dollars to develop a modified Starship as a lunar lander for its Artemis programme, which aims to return astronauts to the Moon before the end of 2028. A rival lander, Blue Moon, is being developed by Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin and has yet to fly. NASA plans a 2027 in-orbit rendezvous test between its Orion capsule and at least one of the landers, as a precursor to a crewed lunar landing — which would be the first since Apollo 17 in 1972. China is also pursuing a crewed Moon mission, targeting 2030. Aerospace analyst Clayton Swope of the Center for Strategic and International Studies cautioned that "there is a long way to go and many more test flights before Starship is ready" for Artemis duties.
The test flight comes just days after SpaceX filed with US financial regulators to go public, in what is expected to be among the largest initial public offerings in Wall Street history, potentially raising $75 billion. The company, which also operates the Starlink satellite internet service, values itself at $1.25 trillion. Beyond government contracts, SpaceX is already taking reservations for private Moon and Mars flights; this week, Chinese-born bitcoin investor Chun Wang announced plans to fly aboard Starship's first interplanetary mission to Mars, though no date or price was disclosed.