SpaceX just pulled off one of its wildest Starship tests yet — launching the biggest and most powerful version of the rocket ever built before intentionally slamming it into the Indian Ocean in a fiery ending straight out of a sci-fi movie.
Elon Musk’s company launched the 12th Starship test flight Friday using the brand-new Super Heavy V3 booster, a towering 407-foot rocket built to eventually carry humans back to the Moon and, one day, all the way to Mars.
The upgraded Starship blasted off from a brand-new launch pad in South Texas carrying roughly 45 tons of payload simulators, making it one of the biggest payload launches the world has seen in decades.
Of course, this being SpaceX, things got a little chaotic.
One of Starship’s engines failed during ascent, but the giant spacecraft somehow kept powering forward anyway and still completed its primary mission objectives.
The rocket successfully deployed 20 mock Starlink satellites before continuing its planned path halfway around the world. SpaceX also used modified camera-equipped Starlink satellites to capture footage of Starship flying through space.
Then came the jaw-dropping ending.
After nearly an hour in flight, Starship slammed into the Indian Ocean in a massive fireball that looked more like the finale of a Hollywood disaster movie than a routine aerospace test.
But unlike previous Starship explosions, this one was completely intentional. SpaceX planned for the spacecraft to burn up at the end of the mission while engineers gathered critical flight data for future launches.
“Congratulations @SpaceX team on an epic first Starship V3 launch and landing!” Musk posted on X. “You scored a goal for humanity.”
NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman also celebrated the launch, writing: “Congrats @SpaceX team and @elonmusk on a hell of a V3 Starship launch. One step closer to the Moon… one step closer to Mars.”
This is the same giant rocket NASA is now betting on to help land astronauts back on the Moon as part of the Artemis program before Musk ultimately tries pushing humanity toward Mars.
SpaceX is also attempting to make Starship fully reusable, with future plans involving giant mechanical arms literally catching rocket stages out of the sky during landing.
The launch comes just days after Musk announced plans to take SpaceX public in what could become the biggest IPO in history.
The company is reportedly seeking a staggering $1.75 trillion valuation and could raise between $40 billion and $80 billion.
SpaceX currently owns both Starlink and Musk’s AI company xAI.
