Starship redeems itself in spectacular 10th test flight

After a string of high-profile failures this year, SpaceX’s Starship saw spectacular success in its 10th test flight yesterday, August 26. After two days of weather delays, the latest iteration of Starship – the world’s biggest and most powerful launch vehicle – launched from SpaceX’s Starbase facility on the Texas Gulf Coast at 18:30 CDT (23:30 UTC). And within around an hour, both the booster stage and upper stage had successfully performed gentle splashdowns after a near-faultless flight test, which included the first deployment of dummy Starlink satellites.

It was a much-needed win for Starship in a year that has so far been marked by explosive failures. Test flights 7 and 8 in January and March both saw the spaceship’s upper stage explode on its ascent into space. The 9th test in May saw the upper stage spin out of control and burn up on reentry, while the booster stage exploded before landing. And in preparation for what was meant to be Starship’s 10th test in June, the spacecraft exploded on the launch stand.

This time, though, both stages appeared to perform as planned, with SpaceX reporting:

Every major objective was met, providing critical data to inform designs of the next generation Starship and Super Heavy.

Watch this video of the launch.

Milestones for Starship on 10th test flight

All 33 of the Super Heavy booster’s engines ignited during a successful launch, although one shut off prematurely as it propelled the upper stage out of the lower atmosphere. The booster stage then descended to a hover above the Gulf of Mexico, before a gentle splashdown.

This stage is designed to be caught by huge mechanical “chopsticks,” as has been demonstrated in three earlier tests. But this time, SpaceX chose an ocean landing while they tested whether the booster could still land if one of its three center engines failed. And with one engine intentionally shut down, the booster compensated with a backup engine to achieve a smooth landing.

Meanwhile, Starship’s upper stage surpassed its performance in the previous three tests by reaching and maintaining its planned sub-orbital trajectory. And in a first for the spacecraft, it successfully deployed eight dummy Starlink satellites.

SpaceX was aiming to stress-test the upper stage during reentry into the atmosphere, and flaps could be seen burning and melting as the 170-foot-tall (51-meter-tall) craft fell back to Earth. But Starship remained under control throughout, and succeeded in righting itself before its planned splashdown and explosion in the Indian Ocean.

After two consecutive scrubs, SpaceX’s Starship vehicle launched on Tuesday night. The test aims to show that the mammoth rocket is capable of achieving key flight goals. nyti.ms/45EqU8I

— The New York Times (@nytimes.com) 2025-08-27T07:50:33.981513Z

Much-needed success

The success will come as a relief not only to SpaceX, but to NASA. Starship is integral to NASA’s Artemis program, which is aiming to return humans to the moon this decade. The Human Landing System variant of Starship is supposed to ferry astronauts to the lunar surface on the Artemis 3 mission, currently targeted for mid-2027.

And in the longer term, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk is banking on Starship to send humans to Mars.

Bottom line: After a series of explosive failures this year, SpaceX’s Starship saw spectacular success during its 10th flight test on August 26, 2025.

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