Starship launches Starlink satellites, achieves most successful splashdown yet
SMRTR summary
A 400-foot rocket, a batch of brand-new satellites, and what SpaceX is calling its smoothest ocean landing yet. That's the headline from Starship's 13th flight test, launched from Starbase, Texas.
For the first time, Starship deployed actual operational Starlink V3 satellites, not the dummy simulators used in earlier tests. All 20 briefly connected to the existing Starlink network before burning up on re-entry, exactly as planned.
The upper stage also pulled off a Raptor engine relight in space and came down in what SpaceX described as its "softest splashdown ever" in the Indian Ocean, a notable achievement given engineers deliberately pushed the vehicle through punishing re-entry conditions.
The Super Heavy booster wasn't as lucky. Engine restart failures caused it to hit the water harder than intended, and the booster was lost.
Still, for a program built on learning by doing, Flight 13 moved the needle on reusability, payload delivery, and deep-space ambitions, including NASA's Artemis moon missions and, eventually, Mars.
SMRTR provides this summary for quick context. The original article belongs to Interesting Engineering.
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