SpaceX completes 11th test flight of its Starship rocket

Elon Musk’s SpaceX launched its 11th Starship rocket from Texas on Monday and landed it in the Indian Ocean, the last flight before the company begins test-launching a new version of the giant rocket outfitted with more features for moon and Mars missions

Elon Musk’s SpaceX launched its 11th Starship rocket from Texas on Monday and landed it in the Indian Ocean, the last flight before the company begins test-launching a new version of the giant rocket outfitted with more features for moon and Mars missions.

Starship, which includes the Starship upper stage stacked atop its Super Heavy booster, launched at 6:23 p.m. CT from SpaceX’s Starbase facilities. After sending the Starship stage to space, Super Heavy returned for a soft water landing in the Gulf of Mexico roughly 10 minutes after liftoff.

Its last mission, in August, ended a streak of testing failures earlier this year. Monday’s flight was similar to the previous one, again deploying a batch of mock Starlink satellites, briefly re-lighting its engines in space and testing new heat shield tiles during its blazing hot return from space before splashing down west of Australia.

Acting NASA Administrator Sean Duffy said on X the mission was “another major step toward landing Americans on the Moon’s south pole.”

SpaceX's Starship rocket launches during the 11th test flight Monday, as seen from South Padre Island in Texas.Gabriel Cardenas / AFP via Getty ImagesSpaceX, in future tests, expects to launch a more advanced Starship prototype tailored with upgrades essential for long-duration missions in space, the company said on Monday.