SpaceX’s 13th test flight of the Starship giant rocket went off without a hitch, launching Flight 13 carrying the 124-meter (408 feet) tall Starship V3 from SpaceX’s Starbase in South Texas. The Starship Super Heavy booster encountered some engine issues during its return to Earth, but the upper stage of the vehicle successfully achieved all of its objectives, deploying 20 next-generation Starlink satellites, restarting one of its Raptor engines in space as planned, and landing safely off the coast of Western Australia.

According to Space, the landing was so smooth that the vehicle didn’t even explode after hitting the water — an unprecedented achievement for Starship flights. SpaceX shared these achievements with us live via the Flight 13 launch stream, and later highlighted some of them by posting photos on its X account.

Starship footage in space

Footage from the Super Heavy spacecraft shows it soaring away after stage separation, with its six Raptor engines glowing brightly against the backdrop of Earth. Another post features footage from the vehicle’s perspective as it descends toward the Indian Ocean, guiding its path from sky to sea. The video then transitions to drone footage just moments before the vehicle hits the water, capturing the dramatic landing from above and the vehicle surviving despite a large fire erupting around its front end.

SpaceX has managed to observe the Super Heavy rocket during three test flights of the Starship vehicle, and it will attempt the same with the Starship in flight 14, provided that there are no dangerous indications during a review of the data from flight 13.

It is worth noting that the Starship conducted its first test flight in April 2023. Flight 13 was the second launch of version three of the vehicle, which is the first version designed for operations. SpaceX is making efforts to launch and operate the giant rocket soon.