SpaceX’s Starship completes the 10th test flight after a series of failed series

It’s been a hot few months for Starship, the 400-foot SpaceX rocket that Elon Musk ambitiously colonized Mars. Several recent test flights ended in failure, with prototypes exploding or losing the upper spacecraft. But at 7:30 pm ET (August 26) at 7:30 pm ET, SpaceX broke through its amazing comeback and successfully completed its tenth Starship test.

The prototype was lifted from Starbucks, Texas, the SpaceX development site of Boca Chica, which was recently merged into a city. Its booster’s 33 engines drive the rocket into the sky, then separate and splash in the Gulf of Mexico. The previous phase then ignited six engines, continued to orbit, and later returned safely to Earth and landed in the Indian Ocean.

NASA’s agent administrator Sean Duffy congratulated SpaceX in an article on X. Starship is not only the core of Musk’s Martian ambitions, but also a key part of NASA’s plan to return astronauts to the moon. “It’s a great day for NASA and our commercial space partners,” Duffy said.

The flight was delayed for two days due to hardware problems and bad weather. This is also a series of setbacks. The flights of the seventh, eighth and ninth starships failed: January’s attempts ended, when the vehicle collapsed when the atmosphere re-entered; May’s engine power loss and control mid-term; another test could lead to an unexpected explosion.

Starship won several firsts for the tenth time. The Rocket deploys the payload demonstration by releasing eight virtual starlink link simulators in space. It also achieves a second space redefinition of its upper engine, a key step towards future Deorbit capabilities.

SpaceX has long adopted the “learning while learning” approach and has improved incremental milestones in the process. For example, in October, the company successfully retrieved the booster by capturing it in a mechanical weapon of the launch pad.

Musk’s next goal is to re-control the upper stage to make it re-use and prove track refueling, a capability SpaceX hopes to test next year. “As far as we know, no one shows a transfer of propellant in orbit,” Musk said in a live broadcast on August 25.

The deadline is imminent. NASA has signed a multi-billion dollar contract with SpaceX, and Starship plans to play a role in crew Artemis Moon Landings. Meanwhile, Musk aims to conduct undelayed Starship missions by the end of 2026, and then crew flights in 2028 and 2029. He called the goal for 2026 “50/50 opportunity” with track refueling as the main obstacle.

Despite the challenges, Musk is still bullish. “I’m confident that the talented SpaceX team will achieve these goals, and we will land ships on Mars in the future, build greenhouses and live on Mars, and ensure long-term survival of life as we know it.”