SpaceX says “every major objective was met” following a successful launch, separation, payload deployment and soft-landings of both the Super Heavy booster and the Starship under its tenth Starship flight test.
The firm’s engineers said the mission was intentionally designed to push the spacecraft to punishing limits to test vehicle capabilities. As with earlier flights, SpaceX deliberately removed tiles from the heat shield to observe heating effects on re-entry, with many sensors monitoring the structure around the missing tiles.
For this flight, engineers also used four control flaps to push the Starship flight envelope on re-entry, gathering more data on control at speeds in excess of 25,000 kph through the upper atmosphere.
Flight details
The flight test began with Super Heavy successfully lifting off by igniting all 33 Raptor engines and ascending over the Gulf of America. Successful ascent was followed by a hot-staging manoeuvre, with Starship’s upper stage igniting its six Raptor engines to separate from Super Heavy and continue the flight to space.
Starship completed a full-duration ascent burn and achieved its planned velocity, successfully putting it on a suborbital trajectory. The first in-space objective was then completed, with eight Starlink simulators, thought to have a mass of around 2.5 tonnes each, deployed in the first successful payload demonstration from Starship.
The vehicle then completed the second ever in-space relight of a Raptor engine, demonstrating a key capability for future deorbit burns.
At this point, a small explosion scattered debris around the engine area, with details uncertain. But the event had no impact on subsequent operations, even with flaps and the structure apparently torn by the impact of debris.
Following stage separation, the Super Heavy booster completed its boost-back burn to put it on a course to a pre-planned splashdown zone. The booster descended and successfully initiated its landing burn, intentionally disabling one of its three centre engines during the final phases of the burn and using a backup engine from the middle ring. Super Heavy entered into a final hover above the water before shutting down its engines and splashing down into the water
Moving into the critical re-entry phase, Starship was able to gather data on the performance of its heatshield and structure as it was intentionally stressed to push the envelope on vehicle capabilities. Using its four flaps for control, the spacecraft arrived at its splashdown point in the Indian Ocean, successfully executed a landing flip, and completed the flight test with a landing burn and soft splashdown.
A Starlink-powered buoy placed just metres away caught the splashdown, demonstrating the precision of the landing.
Investor reaction
The flight has boosted confidence in reusable rocketry and commercial space operations. One pre-IPO investment platform described it as akin to Amazon’s “Prime logistics” breakthrough moment. But analysts stopped short of predicting an accelerated IPO timetable for SpaceX. In fact some observers say the success of Flight 10 might allow SpaceX to attract more private capital and delay any public plans.
The company is valued at around $175 to $210 billion as of mid-2025 and is more likely to spin off Starlink – one star of the LiveStream repeatedly hailed by SpaceX engineers, providing high-definition live video from space and the middle of the Indian Ocean – once revenues stabilize.
