Starship flight 13 reaches Indian Ocean after SpaceX reusability tests

SpaceX’s Starship flight 13 launched from Texas on Friday evening and ended 1 hour, 5 minutes and 21 seconds later with the upper stage making a controlled splashdown in the Indian Ocean. The test matters for SpaceX’s operating model because the company said it collected data tied to reuse, orbital operations and faster turnaround, though the Super Heavy booster still came down harder than planned.

The vehicle lifted off at 5:51 p.m. Texas time after delays and engine replacements. SpaceX said Starship floated after landing in the Indian Ocean, giving the company another set of flight data from the upper stage’s return through the atmosphere.

SpaceX said the flight produced critical information on the heatshield and included a banking maneuver intended to resemble the path future vehicles would fly when returning to Starbase, the company’s Texas launch site. Heatshield performance is central to the reusable version of Starship: without predictable thermal protection, rapid reflights remain a company target rather than an operating cadence.

What did SpaceX test on Starship flight 13?

SpaceX tested several pieces of the Starship system in one flight: the Super Heavy booster’s deorbit routine, the upper stage’s heatshield, an in-space Raptor engine relight and deployment of Starlink V3 satellites. The company framed these tests as steps toward missions that launch from Starbase and return there, reducing recovery complexity and shortening the time between flights.

The booster portion was mixed. SpaceX said Super Heavy completed the high-thrust section of its boostback burn using all 33 engines, which the company described as a first for a Super Heavy V3. The burn ended early, and during the landing burn only some engines relit before the booster hit the Gulf in what SpaceX called a hard splashdown.

That means the booster did not meet the softer-water-landing profile SpaceX wanted. The result still gave the company data on a new deorbit sequence, but it leaves booster recovery and catch operations as unfinished work for the next flights.

After stage separation, Starship used its six Raptor engines to reach its planned flight conditions and released 20 Starlink V3 satellites. SpaceX said its team confirmed the satellites were working, and six of them observed Starship’s heatshield. The satellites were not meant to join the operating Starlink network and re-entered Earth’s atmosphere about 20 minutes after deployment, according to SpaceX.

The upper stage also restarted one Raptor engine while coasting in space. That capability is required for longer-duration Starship missions, including flights that maintain orbit or set a course toward the Moon. NASA plans to use a version of Starship for Artemis missions that land astronauts on the lunar surface.

Elon Musk said he hopes the next Starship test will include a Super Heavy booster catch by Starbase’s robotic arms. A catch attempt would push SpaceX closer to the reusable launch architecture it has been advertising, but Friday’s hard booster splashdown shows that the booster side of the system has not yet reached routine recovery.

This story draws on original reporting from The Register.