Elon Musk’s SpaceX launches 10th test flight after multiple delays; mega rocket makes planned splashdown

SpaceX on Tuesday (August 26, 2025) successfully launched its Starship mega rocket for a tenth test flight to overcome development setbacks and clinch long-sought technical milestones key to the Mars rocket's reusable design following a string of explosive failures. The mega rocket Starship completed the first-ever deployment of a test payload, eight Starlink dummy satellites, into space.

According to news agency AP, the 403-foot-tall (123 m) Starship system lifted off around 6:30 p.m. EST (2230 GMT) from SpaceX's Starbase facilities in south Texas. It was the 10th test for the world's biggest rocket, which SpaceX and NASA hope to use to get astronauts back on the moon.



After coasting through space for a little more than an hour, Starship splashed down as planned in the Indian Ocean and the mega rocket carried out a planned splashdown in the Gulf of Mexico. The upper half of the rocket separated from its Super Heavy booster, the 232-foot-tall first stage that normally returns to land in its launch tower's giant catch-arms, but on Tuesday targeted the Gulf of Mexico waters to demonstrate an alternate landing engine configuration.

Starship reached space on a trajectory bound for the Indian Ocean, where it was poised to splash down after enduring intense heat through its atmospheric reentry. This is a crucial phase of the test that has shredded the rocket on past flights.

Shortly after reaching space, Starship's "Pez"-like satellite deployment system dispensed mock Starlink satellites for the first time, a milestone SpaceX either cancelled or failed to reach during past tests, Reuters reported.

The Starship mission is crucial for Elon Musk to realize his ambitions of making humanity a multiplanetary species. On the other hand, NASA is awaiting a modified version to act as a lander for its plans to return astronauts to the Moon.

A launch attempt on Sunday (August 24, 2025) was scrubbed due to a fuel leak on the launchpad, and on Monday (August 25, 2025), weather intervened as thick clouds forced another delay. The last three flights ended with the upper stage exploding: twice over the Caribbean and once after reaching space. In June 2025, an upper stage blew up during a ground test.