SpaceX Launches Starship Megarocket: Features And What The Mission Means For Space Travel

SpaceX’s Starship megarocket roared into the skies on its tenth test flight on Tuesday after a series of setbacks. The 123-metre-tall powerful rocket is key to Elon Musk’s Mars dream and NASA’s Moon plans.

The rocket lifted off Tuesday evening from SpaceX's Starbase site in South Texas at 7:30 p.m. EDT (23:30 GMT) before its first-stage booster, known as Super Heavy, splashed down in the Gulf of Mexico. SpaceX didn’t try to catch it this time. Instead, they tested how it flies with an engine failure. The flight was successful.

The rocket’s latest test flight came two days later than originally planned after an issue with ground systems on Sunday. On Monday, the launch was disrupted due to bad weather. “Splashdown confirmed! Congratulations to the entire SpaceX team on an exciting tenth flight test of Starship!” SpaceX shared in a post on X on Tuesday.

"Great work by the SpaceX team!!!" SpaceX CEO Musk wrote on X.

The latest flight marked the fourth one in 2025. Earlier this year, Flights 7 and 8 were also launched but lost the Ship stage less than 10 minutes after take-off. Flight 9 in May did better, but it still failed to reach its planned splashdown in the Indian Ocean as the vehicle broke down during re-entry. In June, another setback hit the company after a Ship exploded during ground testing at Starbase.

SpaceX’s Starship system includes the Starship spacecraft and the Super Heavy booster. Together, they are called Starship. It is fully and rapidly reusable. It can carry up to 150 metric tonnes in reusable mode. In expendable mode, it can lift up to 250 tonnes, according to the official website.

The full system stands 123 metres tall and 9 metres wide. The Starship spacecraft is 52 metres tall. The Super Heavy booster is 71 metres tall. Starship can carry up to 100 people on long space missions.

Super Heavy uses 33 Raptor engines. These burn sub-cooled liquid methane and liquid oxygen. The engines are 3.1 metres long and have twice the thrust of Falcon 9’s Merlin engines. A total of 13 engines sit in the centre. The rest are arranged around the booster’s outer edge.

According to SpaceX, Starship is designed to carry crew and cargo to Earth orbit, the Moon, Mars and beyond.

“As the most powerful launch system ever developed, Starship will be able to carry up to 100 people on long-duration, interplanetary flights. It will also help enable satellite delivery, the development of a Moon base, and point-to-point transport here on Earth,” the company said.

Starship is built to deliver payloads farther and at a lower cost than Falcon rockets. When ready, it will carry many satellites, massive telescopes and heavy cargo to Earth orbit, the Moon, Mars, and other space destinations.

It will also help NASA in its Artemis missions by delivering cargo, equipment and astronauts to the Moon’s surface. Starship’s high payload capacity and reusability will make it ideal for building a sustainable lunar base and supporting long-term exploration.