Starship's Tenth Flight Test - All Nominal

Starship’s tenth flight test launched on August 26, 2025, at 6:30 p.m. CT from Starbase, Texas, marking a pivotal advancement in developing the world’s first fully reusable launch vehicle. All major objectives were successfully achieved, delivering essential data to refine the designs of the next-generation Starship and Super Heavy.

The flight test commenced with the successful launch of Super Heavy, which ignited all 33 Raptor engines and ascended over the Gulf of America. Following this successful ascent, a hot-staging manoeuvre was executed, during which Starship's upper stage ignited its six Raptor engines to separate from Super Heavy and proceed with the journey to space.

After stage separation, the Super Heavy booster executed its boostback burn to align with a designated splashdown area. The booster descended and successfully commenced its landing burn, deliberately deactivating one of its three central engines during the final stages of the burn and utilizing a backup engine from the middle ring. Super Heavy then performed a final hover above the water before shutting down its engines and splashing down into the water.

Starship successfully conducted a full-duration ascent burn, achieving its target velocity and placing itself on a suborbital trajectory. The primary in-space objective was met with the deployment of eight Starlink simulators, marking the first successful payload demonstration by Starship. Following this, the vehicle accomplished the second-ever in-space relight of a Raptor engine, demonstrating an essential capability for future deorbit manoeuvres.

During the crucial reentry phase, Starship effectively gathered data on the performance of its heatshield and structure by deliberately exposing the vehicle to stress to test the limits of its capabilities. Utilising its four flaps for control, the spacecraft reached its designated splashdown site in the Indian Ocean, executed a landing flip, and concluded the flight test with a landing burn, resulting in a smooth splashdown.

Throughout a flight test campaign, success is gauged by the knowledge gained. Starship's tenth flight test offered valuable insights by pushing the vehicle's capabilities to their limits.