SpaceX successfully launches 10th Starship test with first test payload deployment

TEXAS - SpaceX successfully launched the 10th test flight of its Starship rocket on Tuesday night from Starbase in South Texas. It came following two recent scrubs due to weather and technical issues.

What we know:

The mission included the first-ever deployment of eight dummy satellites into orbit, followed by the planned splashdown of Starship in the Indian Ocean. 

The Super Heavy Booster returned safely to the Atlantic after completing a landing-burn engine test.

What we don't know:

It is unclear when the next Starship test flights will occur. The long-term schedule for crewed lunar missions using Starship has not been specified beyond NASA’s plan for later this decade.

The backstory:

Starship, the world’s largest and most powerful rocket, has faced multiple failures over the past year, including crashes minutes after liftoff in 2023 and early 2024. SpaceX redesigned the Super Heavy booster with larger fins to improve stability after the ninth test flight failed in May. 

The Starship program is central to SpaceX CEO Elon Musk’s goals of returning astronauts to the Moon and eventually reaching Mars.

Big picture view:

The successful deployment and recovery demonstrate SpaceX’s progress toward reusable, heavy-lift rockets capable of carrying humans and payloads beyond Earth. This milestone also supports NASA’s Artemis program and long-term commercial space ambitions.

Starship test flight 10 goals

Dig deeper:

"The upcoming flight will continue to expand the operating envelope on the Super Heavy booster, with multiple landing burn tests planned. It will also target similar objectives as previous missions, including Starship’s first payload deployment and multiple reentry experiments geared towards returning the upper stage to the launch site for catch," is how SpaceX describes the goals of Sunday's test flight.

"The primary test objectives for the booster will be focused on its landing burn and will use unique engine configurations. One of the three center engines used for the final phase of landing will be intentionally disabled to gather data on the ability for a backup engine from the middle ring to complete a landing burn."

"The flight test includes several experiments focused on enabling Starship’s upper stage to return to the launch site. A significant number of tiles have been removed from Starship to stress-test vulnerable areas across the vehicle during reentry. Multiple metallic tile options, including one with active cooling, will test alternative materials for protecting Starship during reentry. On the sides of the vehicle, functional catch fittings are installed and will test the fittings’ thermal and structural performance, along with a section of the tile line receiving a smoothed and tapered edge to address hot spots observed during reentry on Starship’s sixth flight test."