SpaceX's 13th Starship flight splashes near Western Australia after launch
SpaceX just pulled off a big win with the 13th Starship test flight, using a Version 3 rocket, on July 24.
The giant rocket launched from South Texas, dropped off 20 new Starlink satellites, and even restarted a Raptor engine while in space.
Most impressively, the upper stage managed a smooth splashdown near Western Australia (no explosions this time), which is a huge step forward for SpaceX.
SpaceX targets 2-stage recovery flight 14
The launch live stream gave fans some epic visuals: six Raptor engines blazing as the upper stage broke away from the booster, plus drone shots of its descent into the Indian Ocean.
There was a sizeable fire after landing, but the rocket survived.
Looking ahead, SpaceX wants to fully recover both stages in Flight 14 as it keeps pushing for reusable rockets, making space travel cheaper and more sustainable for everyone.