SpaceX’s Starship rocket successfully deployed its first batch of mock Starlink satellites and tested new heat shield tiles during its tenth test flight on Tuesday, marking key development milestones after a streak of earlier failures.
The 403-foot-tall (123 m) Starship lifted off around 7:30 p.m. EDT (2330 GMT) from SpaceX’s Starbase in south Texas.
Three minutes later, its towering Super Heavy booster released the Starship upper stage into orbit.
About 30 minutes into the flight, Starship’s “Pez”-like deployment system released eight dummy Starlink satellites for the first time, a critical demonstration for the rocket that underpins SpaceX’s dominant launch business.
Roughly an hour into the flight, Starship underwent a supersonic reentry over the Indian Ocean, testing a new hexagonal heat shield designed to require minimal refurbishment after each mission.
The mission concluded with a vertical, engine-guided landing on the ocean’s surface west of Australia. The Starship then toppled and exploded in a controlled fireball, an expected outcome likely triggered by the flight termination system.
The Super Heavy booster executed a water landing in the Gulf of Mexico instead of returning to the launch tower, demonstrating an alternate landing configuration.
The flight was broadcast live on SpaceX’s webcast, attracting hundreds of thousands of viewers online.
Much is riding on Starship’s success, as NASA selected the rocket to land the first astronauts on the Moon since the Apollo programme, and Elon Musk views it as essential for future missions to Mars.
Despite the progress, several challenges remain, including in-space refuelling demonstrations and ensuring a safe lunar landing.
This flight follows a series of earlier Starship test failures, including explosions during ascent and at landing, making this successful satellite deployment and heat shield test a key milestone in SpaceX’s test-to-failure development strategy.
Returning spacecraft have historically required extensive repairs due to high-speed atmospheric friction.
“There are thousands of engineering challenges that remain, for both the ship and the booster, but maybe the single biggest one is the reusable orbital heat shield,” Musk said on Monday during a SpaceX live stream.
Acting NASA Administrator Sean Duffy congratulated SpaceX on X, writing, “Flight 10’s success paves the way for the Starship Human Landing System that will bring American astronauts back to the Moon on Artemis III.”
NASA awarded SpaceX a contract to develop Starship as the Human Landing System for Artemis III, tasked with returning American astronauts to the lunar surface for the first time in more than 50 years.
The first crewed Artemis mission, currently scheduled for 2027, will use Starship, though analysts expect the date may slip.
SpaceX continues to rapidly build new Starship prototypes at its Starbase complex.
Starship is also critical to SpaceX’s Starlink satellite internet business, which has so far relied on Falcon 9 rockets. The new system is designed to launch larger batches of satellites more efficiently.
President Ilham Aliyev said Azerbaijan ended 2025 as a year of peace, security and stability, stressing that unity between the people and the governme...
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian warned that Tehran’s answer to any aggression will be decisive and “discouraging” and Foreign Minister Abbas...
The United States Embassy in Tashkent has confirmed that the issuance of Diversity Visas (DV) commonly referred to as Green Card visas has been suspen...
Afghanistan is expected to remain one of the world’s largest humanitarian crises in 2026, with nearly half of the population projected to require hu...
The Russian radio station known as 'Doomsday Radio' (or UVB-76) unexpectedly began playing ‘Swan Lake’, music from a ballet composition. The last ...
President Ilham Aliyev said Azerbaijan ended 2025 as a year of peace, security and stability, stressing that unity between the people and the government remained the main factor behind the country’s achievements.
Almost seventeen years ago, in December 2008, I worked with a film crew shooting a documentary on the Armenia and Azerbaijan conflict for Al Jazeera English.
A tragic train collision near Machu Picchu, one of Peru's most iconic tourist destinations, has resulted in the death of a train driver and left at least 40 others injured. The incident occurred on Tuesday, when two trains collided head-on on the railway that leads to the ancient Inca citadel, which
Start your day informed with AnewZ Morning Brief: here are the top news stories for the 31st of December, covering the latest developments you need to know.
The Russian radio station known as 'Doomsday Radio' (or UVB-76) unexpectedly began playing ‘Swan Lake’, music from a ballet composition. The last time this was done was during the deaths of Soviet-era leaders and the 1991 coup.
Protests in Iran over soaring prices and a plunging rial have spread to universities in Tehran, as students join shopkeepers and bazaar merchants in demanding government action. With inflation above 42% and the rial at record lows, unrest continues to grow across the country.
As Russia’s war in Ukraine enters its fourth year, rising casualties, economic struggles, and mounting unrest expose cracks in society. Despite Kremlin propaganda, frustration is growing as more Russians question the government’s narrative, according to The Washington Post.
The head of Yemen’s Presidential Council, Rashad al-Alimi, has ordered all forces linked to the United Arab Emirates to leave Yemen within 24 hours.
European leaders held talks on Ukraine after Russia said it would revise its negotiating position, citing an alleged Ukrainian drone attack that Kyiv has firmly denied.
Senior officials from the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue, or Quad, met in Beijing this week for talks with Chinese counterparts, marking a rare in-person engagement between the four-nation grouping and China amid heightened strategic competition in the Indo-Pacific.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian warned that Tehran’s answer to any aggression will be decisive and “discouraging” and Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi urged his counterparts to strongly denounce US President Donald Trump’s recent threat of military strike against Iran.
The United States Embassy in Tashkent has confirmed that the issuance of Diversity Visas (DV) commonly referred to as Green Card visas has been suspended, although applicants may continue to submit applications and attend interviews, according to an official embassy statement.
Afghanistan is expected to remain one of the world’s largest humanitarian crises in 2026, with nearly half of the population projected to require humanitarian assistance, according to a new report published by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).
The Russian radio station known as 'Doomsday Radio' (or UVB-76) unexpectedly began playing ‘Swan Lake’, music from a ballet composition. The last time this was done was during the deaths of Soviet-era leaders and the 1991 coup.
You can download the AnewZ application from Play Store and the App Store.
What is your opinion on this topic?
Leave the first comment