On October 13, 2025, SpaceX's Starship launched from Starbase, Texas, on its eleventh and final test flight for the second-generation Starship and first-generation Super Heavy, as well as the last mission from the current Pad 1 setup. The flight met all major objectives, delivering key data for the next Starship and Super Heavy designs.
Super Heavy ignited all 33 Raptors, ascended over the Gulf, and completed hot staging as Starship lit its six engines to continue into space. After separation, Super Heavy executed its boostback burn using 12 of 13 planned engines, then reignited all 13 for a high-thrust landing burn before hovering and splashing down—demonstrating a new landing profile for future boosters.
Starship completed a full ascent burn, deployed eight Starlink simulators, and achieved its third successful in-space Raptor relight. It reentered the atmosphere, stress-testing its heatshield, performed a banking maneuver simulating future return trajectories, then used its flaps to guide to a planned splashdown in the Indian Ocean, finishing with a landing flip, burn, and soft splashdown.
SpaceX Founder and CEO Elon Musk said attention now turns to the next Starship and Super Heavy generation, with multiple vehicles in build for upcoming orbital flights, operational missions, propellant transfer tests, and "progress toward a fully reusable system for Earth orbit, the Moon, Mars, and beyond."
