Did SpaceX finally get lucky on its 13th attempt? SpaceX launched its massive Starship rocket on Friday evening, July 24, 2026, from its facility in Starbase, Texas, marking its 13th test flight and the first since its record IPO last month. The event saw both the Super Heavy booster and the Starship upper stage achieve distinct, if not entirely perfect, splashdowns. The real story here isn't just another rocket launch; it's the incremental, and sometimes messy, progress towards a fully reusable orbital behemoth that could reshape everything from satellite internet to lunar exploration.
Both CNBC and the BBC report that the Starship rocket lifted off successfully. Space.com notes that this was the 13th test flight, a number that could have conjured superstition, but SpaceX employees on the livestream apparently dubbed it "lucky number 13." This flight was particularly significant as it was the first to carry SpaceX's next-generation Starlink V3 satellites. These new satellites, built in Redmond, Washington, are larger and more powerful, designed to offer a substantial boost to Starlink's service, with capabilities of up to 1 Tbps downlink, according to Engadget.
The flight took a familiar, albeit slightly improved, trajectory. The Super Heavy booster detached from the Starship spacecraft about two minutes into the flight. CNBC reports that the booster made a controlled splashdown in the Gulf of Mexico, though it was described as a "hard splashdown" because only a subset of its engines successfully ignited for the landing burn. Space.com adds that only five of the 13 planned engines fired for the booster's landing burn, causing it to hit the water harder than anticipated. CBS News confirms this, stating the booster had an "on-target but 'hard' splashdown off the Texas Gulf Coast due to engine issues," with only 10 of 13 engines restarting as planned, and ultimately only five appearing to be running upon impact.
Meanwhile, the Starship upper stage continued its journey, deploying 20 of the new Starlink V3 satellites into orbit, as reported by CNBC and Engadget. These satellites were designed to remain in suborbital space for approximately 20 minutes before burning up in the atmosphere, according to Engadget. Space.com highlights a unique addition for this test: two of the Starlink satellites were equipped with cameras to scan Starship's heat shield, transmitting images back to Earth for analysis. This marks a crucial step in SpaceX's efforts to ensure the spacecraft's readiness for future missions.
The Starship upper stage then executed its own landing sequence. Space.com describes a "soft splashdown" in the Indian Ocean, where it tipped over to float "belly up." CNBC similarly reports a "soft splashdown" in the Indian Ocean, stating the spacecraft came to rest intact and provided "critical views of an intact heatshield for the first time." CBS News also notes a successful suborbital hop to the Indian Ocean, with the Starship upper stage executing a rocket-powered splashdown. Elon Musk himself confirmed on X, as cited by Space.com, "Starship is intact, floating in the ocean and transmitting telemetry!" SpaceX spokesperson Dan Huot, quoted by Space.com, even called it their "softest splashdown" ever, a "dream scenario" for the team gathering heat shield data.
However, the narrative of pure success is tempered by the recurring theme of engine issues. CNBC notes that SpaceX had previously scrubbed a test flight on July 16 due to a booster hold that "shut down the engines right as they were starting to ignite." Space.com mentions that SpaceX had replaced some first-stage Raptor engines after an aborted July 16 attempt due to engine issues. CBS News details that a July 16 attempt was aborted by a computer command when four Raptors failed to start properly, leading to engine replacements. Even on this successful flight, the Super Heavy booster's landing burn was hampered by engine problems, and the Starship's reentry sequence involved a shift from three engines down to one before it toppled. Tim Farrar, a satellite services industry expert, told CNBC that SpaceX "remains a long way from achieving rapid reusability of the entire ship," pointing to the engine relighting problems.
Despite these setbacks, the overall progress is undeniable. This was the second flight for Starship V3, the latest iteration of the rocket, and the first as a publicly traded company, as noted by the BBC. SpaceX is developing Starship to be fully reusable, with the ultimate goals of vastly expanding its Starlink network, returning U.S. astronauts to the moon, and powering manned missions to Mars. NASA is counting on a variant of the Starship upper stage to serve as a lunar lander for its Artemis program, with a target landing in 2028, according to CBS News. However, CBS News also points out that the Government Accountability Office recently highlighted major challenges for SpaceX in getting the Super Heavy-Starship ready for operational use, particularly concerning cryogenic fuel management and on-orbit propellant transfer.
With SpaceX's stock having dropped in four of the past five weeks, slumping 43% from its peak close on June 16, as CNBC reported, the pressure to demonstrate consistent success is mounting. The next critical step will be observing how SpaceX analyzes the data from this mission, particularly the heat shield performance and the booster's engine reliability, to refine future flights.
The next measurable signal to watch will be SpaceX's announcement regarding the recovery and analysis of the Starship upper stage from the Indian Ocean, and any subsequent flight test date for Starship V3, which will indicate how quickly they can incorporate lessons learned from this "lucky" but still imperfect launch.
