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SpaceX launches Starship test flight 11
SpaceX launches 11th test flight of its Starship rocket from its Starbase in Texas on Monday. The booster was programmed to peel away and drop into the Gulf of Mexico, with the spacecraft skimming space before descending into the Indian Ocean. Nothing was being recovered.
SpaceX’s Starship successfully launched from its Starbase in Texas on Monday.
The booster was programmed to peel away and drop into the Gulf of Mexico, with the spacecraft skimming space before descending into the Indian Ocean. Nothing was being recovered.
FILE - SpaceX's Starship rocket lifts off from Starbase, Texas, as seen from South Padre Island on August 26, 2025, for its tenth test flight. (Photo by RONALDO SCHEMIDT/AFP via Getty Images)
How to watch
LiveNOW from FOX live-streamed the launch with coverage that began at 7 p.m. ET.
Starship's 11th test flight
Dig deeper:
The 11th launch will stress test Starship’s heatshield and will demonstrate "maneuvers that will mimic the upper stage’s final approach for a future return to launch site," SpaceX’s website said.
The booster on this test flight previously flew on Flight 8.
The previous test flight in August — a success after a string of explosive failures — followed a similar path with similar goals.
The backstory:
Starship is being developed with the ultimate goal of carrying astronauts to the moon and eventually Mars.
While the company has not announced a firm timeline for human spaceflight exploration aboard Starship, the program is considered to be an important part of NASA’s Artemis lunar program.
The space agency had previously announced plans to use a modified version of SpaceX's Starship, starting with the Artemis 3 mission, which could launch as early as 2027.
The Source: Information for this article was taken from the SpaceX website and previous reporting by FOX Weather. This story was reported from San Jose.