SpaceX’s next-generation vehicle returns intact after deploying first Starlink V3 satellites
Just after sunset on July 24, the stainless-steel stack of Super Heavy and Starship cleared the pad at Starbase, Texas, for the thirteenth time. What followed was the cleanest demonstration yet of the Version 3 hardware: a full-duration ascent, successful deployment of the first next-generation Starlink satellites, an in-space engine relight, and—most strikingly—a controlled, intact soft splashdown of the upper stage in the Indian Ocean.
Version 3 Takes Its Second Flight
Flight 13 was the second outing for the redesigned Starship and Super Heavy vehicles powered by Raptor 3 engines and launched from the new Pad 2. It came two months after Flight 12, which introduced the V3 architecture on May 22. That earlier mission had already proven the basic flight profile and the ability to deploy satellite simulators, but the booster still struggled with engine lighting during boostback and landing attempts.
This time SpaceX flew Booster 20 and Ship 40. All 33 Raptor 3 engines on the booster lit at liftoff. After a successful hot-staging separation, the upper stage continued on six engines and reached its planned suborbital trajectory. SpaceX reported that Starship then deployed all 20 Starlink V3 satellites. Engineers confirmed contact with every satellite via radio and laser links and recovered key telemetry before the satellites reentered as planned roughly 20 minutes later. The vehicle also performed a single-engine in-space relight—an essential capability for future orbital missions.
Heat Shield Survives, Ship Comes Home Intact
The most closely watched phase was reentry and landing. Starship gathered extensive heat-shield data during atmospheric entry, then executed a dynamic banking maneuver designed to mimic the trajectory future vehicles will fly when returning to Starbase. Using its four flaps for control, the ship guided itself to the targeted splashdown zone in the Indian Ocean. It relit all three Raptor engines, flipped, performed a landing burn, and settled intact on the water—the first time SpaceX has returned clear views of an undamaged heat shield after a full reentry and soft splashdown.
The Super Heavy booster completed a high-thrust boostback burn with all 33 engines—the first time a V3 booster achieved that—but still experienced issues during the landing-burn sequence and made a hard splashdown in the Gulf of America. SpaceX continues to treat each flight as a data-collection exercise rather than a binary success-or-failure event.
Why This Matters
Starship is the centerpiece of SpaceX’s plans for rapid reusability, high-volume Starlink deployment, lunar cargo and crew missions under NASA’s Artemis program, and eventual Mars flights. The combination of first operational Starlink V3 satellites, an intact heat shield after reentry, and continued progress on the booster gives the company clearer data on the path to catch-and-reuse operations with the tower arms at Starbase. Each incremental improvement reduces the risk and cost of the far more ambitious missions still ahead.
