SpaceX Launches Starship Megarocket on Successful Test Flight

AFP/APP

South Padre Island: SpaceX’s massive Starship rocket soared through Texas’s golden-hour skies on Monday before splashing down successfully, as the US company seeks to silence critics who doubt Elon Musk’s startup can deliver NASA’s lunar projects on time.

In its 11th test voyage, the enormous rocket took off Monday from SpaceX’s south Texas launch facilities just after 6:25 p.m. local time (2325 GMT), according to a live video feed that featured resounding applause from engineering teams.

Its rocket booster, known as Super Heavy, landed in Gulf waters as planned, while the upper stage — also called Starship — cruised through space and performed a series of tests, following a similar trajectory to its last successful mission in August.

It blazed into the Indian Ocean a little over an hour after liftoff, having released mock satellites as it did on its previous flight. There was no recovery of the vehicle planned.

NASA plans to use the mammoth Starship — the world’s largest and most powerful rocket — in its efforts to return astronauts to the Moon. It is also key to Musk’s ambitious vision to take humans to Mars.

The billionaire SpaceX founder said on the webcast prior to launch that he planned to watch outside, rather than inside as he previously had, saying it was “much more visceral.”

Monday’s test mission was expected to be the last for this iteration of Starship prototypes. The next flight will debut a new model, Version 3, SpaceX said.

The company can now claim its two most recent flights as wins, following a series of spectacular explosions that had raised concerns Starship might not live up to its promises — at least not on the timeline lawmakers and the scientific community had hoped for.

NASA’s Artemis program aims to return humans to the Moon as China forges ahead with a rival effort targeting 2030 at the latest for its first crewed mission.

US President Donald Trump’s second term in the White House has seen the administration pile pressure on NASA to accelerate progress — efforts for which Starship is key. Musk’s company holds a multibillion-dollar federal contract to develop a modified version of Starship as a lunar lander.

‘Second Space Race’

The manned Artemis III mission is intended for mid-2027 — but NASA’s safety advisory panel has warned it could be “years late,” according to Space Policy Online.

Former NASA administrator Jim Bridenstine recently told a Senate panel that “unless something changes, it is highly unlikely the United States will beat China’s projected timeline.”

NASA’s acting administrator Sean Duffy has insisted the US will still win the “second space race,” telling reporters last month that, “America has led in space in the past, and we are going to continue to lead in space in the future,” while dismissing the notion that China could get there first.

Previous tests of the enormous Starship rocket resulted in explosions of the upper stage — twice over the Caribbean and once after reaching space. In June, the upper stage blew up during a ground test.

Musk has identified developing a fully reusable orbital heat shield as the toughest technical challenge, noting it took nine months to refurbish the Space Shuttle’s shield between flights.

Another major hurdle is proving Starship can be refueled in orbit with super-cooled propellant — an essential but untested step for deep-space missions.

NASA’s Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel has emphasized “threats” related to ensuring this critical fuel transfer can be carried out, with member Paul Hill warning that the current timeline remains “significantly challenged.”