SpaceX Succeeds in 11th Test Flight of Mars Spacecraft 'Starship'

Achieves Key Objectives Including Mock Satellite Deployment and In-Orbit Engine Reignition

SpaceX, the space company led by Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla, has successfully completed the 11th unmanned Earth orbit test flight of its large spacecraft 'Starship', which is being developed with the goal of lunar and Mars exploration.

On the 13th (local time), SpaceX's Mars exploration spacecraft 'Starship' successfully completed its 11th unmanned Earth orbit test flight. Photo by AP Yonhap News

According to SpaceX's live online broadcast, Starship was launched from the Starbase facility at Boca Chica Beach, Texas, at approximately 6:23 p.m. Central Time on the 13th (local time). About three minutes after launch, the first-stage rocket booster and the second-stage spacecraft separated smoothly. The rocket booster then gradually descended over the sea near the launch pad, performed a planned engine burn, hovered briefly above the water, and successfully made a splashdown.

The second-stage spacecraft entered orbit and continued to fly smoothly. Seventeen minutes after launch, it successfully carried out its second experiment of deploying eight mock satellite panels stored inside the spacecraft into orbit. Afterwards, Starship also successfully conducted an in-space engine reignition test, re-entered the atmosphere intact, splashed down in the Indian Ocean, and completed its test flight after about 1 hour and 6 minutes.

CEO Musk founded SpaceX in 2002 with the goal of enabling humanity to travel to and live on Mars, and has spent more than 20 years developing rockets and spacecraft. The company's main objective is to reduce costs and increase launch frequency by making both rockets and spacecraft reusable multiple times.

Since April 2023, SpaceX has repeatedly conducted unmanned Earth orbit test flights of Starship. In the 7th to 9th test flights carried out this year, the spacecraft exploded midair in succession, resulting in failures. However, on August 26, during the 10th test flight, the mission was completed as planned and the satellite deployment experiment succeeded for the first time.