After three consecutive failures earlier this year, SpaceX achieved a major milestone on Tuesday night as its massive Super Heavy-Starship rocket completed what appeared to be a highly successful test flight despite visible damage during reentry.
The upper stage, Starship, endured intense reentry heating that damaged a protective engine skirt and partially melted a control flap, yet maintained stability throughout and executed a powered splashdown in the Indian Ocean.
“Splashdown confirmed! Congratulations to the entire SpaceX team on an exciting tenth flight test of Starship!” the company announced on X.
The Super Heavy booster also performed as planned, propelling Starship out of the lower atmosphere before returning for a controlled splashdown in the Gulf of Mexico—part of a test simulating an engine failure during descent.
The one-hour, six-minute mission showcased SpaceX’s progress in perfecting the world’s most powerful rocket—capable of producing 16 million pounds of thrust, more than double NASA’s Space Launch System or the legendary Saturn V.
Previous test flights ended in midair explosions, prompting concerns about whether SpaceX could meet NASA’s deadline to deliver a human-rated version of Starship for a planned 2027 Artemis moon landing.
While Tuesday’s flight marked a breakthrough, critical challenges remain—particularly the complex refueling process required for a lunar mission. SpaceX must launch 10–20 tanker flights to transfer cryogenic propellants in orbit, a feat no space program has ever demonstrated.
“We are not going to get a crewed Starship to the moon by 2030 under any circumstances,” one senior engineer told CBS News. “That doesn’t mean they’ll never get there… but it’s too big of a technical leap to accomplish in the short time that we’ve got.”
Meanwhile, China is reportedly accelerating its own lunar program, aiming to plant its flag on the moon by decade’s end—potentially before NASA and SpaceX can accomplish their first crewed landing.