Following a string of unsuccessful flights, SpaceX managed to pull off its most successful test in months, with Starship fulfilling a number of key milestones.
It was a good day for SpaceX. The megarocket blasted off on time, leaving the Starbase launch mount at 7:30 p.m. ET. Stage separation went off without a hitch, with the Super Heavy booster landing in the ocean as planned nearly 7 minutes into the mission. Second engine cutoff (SECO) occurred a few minutes later, and Starship began to cruise in space, this time without the awful tumbling experienced in the most recent mission.
History was made at the 18:30 mark, when Starship opened its bay doors and ejected payloads into space for the first time.
A view of the dummy Starlink satellites as they were being dispensed into space. © SpaceX
In this case, the payloads were mock-ups of next-gen Starlink satellites. Acting like a Pez dispenser, Starship popped each dummy satellite into space one at a time and in roughly one-minute intervals (the units will fall back to Earth and burn up in the atmosphere). It marked a huge moment for SpaceX, with Starship finally functioning as a delivery vehicle.
About 38 minutes into the flight, Starship re-lit one of its vacuum-optimized Raptor engines—the second time SpaceX has ever pulled off the maneuver.
A view of Starship during reentry. © SpaceX
Reentry of Starship began at roughly the 45-minute mark, with the spacecraft hurtling towards the Indian Ocean. SpaceX ran a stress test on the vehicle, deliberately compromising its heat shield to be “mean to the spaceship” and putting it “through its paces,” as SpaceX’s Dan Huot said during the broadcast. The fins in particular were pushed to the limit, with one of them showing clear signs of scarring.
The Starship upper stage returned to Earth at 8:37 p.m. ET, ending the 67-minute mission. Despite the abuse, Starship executed its last-moment flip, performing a landing burn and splashing down softly into the Indian Ocean before exploding in a fireball. Incredibly, a camera mounted on a nearby buoy managed to catch the action.
Starship performing a vertical, controlled landing in the Indian Ocean. © Starship
This was the flight that SpaceX desperately needed. We’ll learn more about the test in the coming days and weeks, but the modifications made to the oversized launch system appeared to do the trick. But as we’ve learned, a single successful test is no guarantee of future gain. SpaceX still has a long way to go before this incredible launch system is fully operational.