SpaceX’s Starship Completes First Successful Test Flight with Satellite Deployment

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International Managing Editor
The world’s largest rocket launched from Texas, splashing down in the Indian Ocean after deploying satellites, in a breakthrough for Elon Musk’s Moon and Mars ambitions
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SpaceX’s mega rocket Starship makes a test flight from Starbase, Texas, Tuesday, Aug. 26, 2025. Photo: AP Photo/Eric Gay

SpaceX launched its giant Starship rocket from its Starbase facility on Tuesday, August 26, 2025, marking the spacecraft’s first fully successful test flight after a series of failed attempts, as reported by Bloomberg.

The 122-meter rocket lifted off at 6:30 p.m. local time, deploying eight dummy satellites into space before splashing down in the Indian Ocean just over an hour later. Its Super Heavy booster separated three minutes after launch and safely landed in the Gulf of Mexico, as planned.

No crew were aboard, but CEO Elon Musk has said Starship will eventually carry people and cargo to the Moon and Mars. He envisions a fully reusable system capable of uncrewed return flights by 2026 and crewed missions starting in 2029.

The flight was Starship’s 10th test mission and its first success following multiple failures, including explosions in 2023 and earlier this year. For this attempt, SpaceX upgraded the booster with larger, stronger fins for better stability.

NASA also plans to use Starship for its Artemis program, aiming to land astronauts on the Moon later this decade.

Kursiv Uzbekistan also reports that the 10th Starship test was halted just 15 minutes before liftoff in Texas, marking another setback for Elon Musk’s rocket ahead of NASA’s Artemis Moon missions.

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