In brief
SpaceX’s Starship rocket reached orbit and released 26 new Starlink V3 satellites before an early splashdown, shortening the intended 10‑hour test to roughly three hours. The space‑heavy craft re‑entered from a controlled trajectory, landing mid‑Pacific and avoiding a potentially hazardous site. Company officials praised the successful deployment and the vehicle’s versatility for future crewed missions to the Moon, Mars and beyond. The event marks a significant milestone in SpaceX’s push toward large‑scale inter‑planetary travel.
SpaceX’s new Starship spacecraft completed an orbit test before splashing down early in the Pacific Ocean, cutting the planned 10‑hour flight to just three hours.
After launching at 13:00 UTC from Kennedy Space Center, the super‑heavy rocket reached a sub‑orbital trajectory, looped around the Earth and deployed 26 next‑generation Starlink V3 satellites into low‑Earth orbit.
The SpaceX team decided to abort the planned re‑entry profile to avoid a potentially hazardous landing site. Instead, the craft performed a controlled splashdown at coordinates 26.4° N, 139.6° W on the Pacific Ocean’s open sea.
“Starship is the world’s most powerful launch vehicle ever built, poised to carry up to 100 people on long‑duration inter‑planetary flights,” the company said. The new ship will aid future crewed missions to the Moon and Mars.
