Starship 13th flight concludes as megarocket splashes down in Indian Ocean
Starship has cleared its biggest hurdle, but the mission is only just beginning. Several crucial moments still lie ahead as the world's most powerful rocket embarks on yet another test, one that could shape the future travel to Moon and Mars.
SpaceX's Starship Flight 13 was successfully executed after the rocket lifted off from Starbase in Boca Chica, Texas, at 4:21 am IST on Saturday, July 25, marking another major milestone in the company's effort to build a fully reusable rocket capable of carrying astronauts and cargo to the Moon and Mars.
The world's tallest and most powerful rocket thundered away from the launch pad after a smooth countdown, days after a previous launch attempt was called off at the last second due to an engine startup issue.
The mission carried 20 next-generation Starlink Version 3 satellites on a suborbital test flight while also demonstrating key capabilities needed for future operational missions.
LET'S GO! SpaceX just SUCCESSFULLY launched Starship from Starbase—the 13th Starship flight—as they get closer and closer to securing a RE-USABLE rocket the size of a 40-STORY building
Only in America, baby!
Congratulations to @elonmusk and the SpaceX team pic.twitter.com/HcDdBZPYZm— Nick Sortor (@nicksortor) July 24, 2026
WHAT FOLLOWED STARSHIP LAUNCH?
After the massive rocket successfully left the launchpad, it moved through several major phases during its journey into space and back.
The first big milestone happened around over 2 minutes after liftoff, when the lower booster section separated from the upper Starship spacecraft. After breaking away, this booster steered itself backward and slowed down for a controlled ocean splashdown in the Gulf of Mexico. The controlled splashdown, however, was unsuccessful. Booster 20 encountered a partial engine ignition issue during the landing burn, with not enough Raptors lighting successfully. This prevented a controlled soft splashdown in the Gulf of Mexico.
SpaceX's next-gen V3 Starship Heavy Booster has splashed down in the ocean as planned. Landing velocity was a bit high. pic.twitter.com/H6GiFsufHP— Sawyer Merritt (@SawyerMerritt) July 24, 2026
Meanwhile, the upper Starship spacecraft continued to climb, soon shut off its engines and entered the coasting phase, which is a period where the ship simply floats through the silence of space without using any engine power.
Starship’s ascent burn is complete and is now coasting through space pic.twitter.com/SY2jGgfjl6— SpaceX (@SpaceX) July 24, 2026
While drifting in this coasting phase, the ship began released 20 real Starlink internet satellites into space. This deployment allowed the new satellites to unfold their panels and test their space lasers. The final phase came after over an hour of launch, when the Starship spacecraft plunged back through the atmosphere and makes its final splashdown in the Indian Ocean.
Splashdown confirmed! Congratulations to the entire SpaceX team on the 13th flight test of Starship! pic.twitter.com/g27YJCQgiN— SpaceX (@SpaceX) July 24, 2026
WHY IS FLIGHT 13 IMPORTANT?
Flight 13 is another step towards making Starship a fully operational launch vehicle. The rocket is central to SpaceX's plans to deploy larger Starlink satellites, support Nasa's Artemis programme and eventually transport humans to Mars.
Unlike earlier flights focused primarily on proving the vehicle could survive launch and re-entry, this mission expands the rocket's operational capabilities by testing payload deployment and engine relight in space.
SpaceX will now analyse the lessons from the mission, including the booster's planned splashdown, the upper stage's performance, satellite deployment and Starship's controlled re-entry into the Indian Ocean. The company is expected to release further updates as each mission milestone is completed.
