SpaceX launches powerful Starship rocket, kicking off first flight test since IPO

OAN Staff Lillian Mann

5:44 PM - Sunday, July 26, 2026

World-leading commercial space launch company SpaceX has successfully launched its massive Starship rocket from Starbase, Texas -- marking the company's first flight test since its record-breaking IPO last month.

SpaceX achieved two major milestones Friday evening, by flying its upgraded Starship and Super Heavy V3 vehicles for their second flight while deploying the first batch of next-generation Starlink V3 satellites, according to a company statement following the launch.

The flight test began as the Super Heavy booster ignited all 33 Raptor 3 engines, heading out over the Gulf of Mexico. Following a successful first-stage ascent, the vehicle executed a hot-staging maneuver, igniting Starship's six upper-stage Raptor engines to push onward into space.

"Following stage separation, the Super Heavy booster performed a directional flip maneuver," SpaceX said of the launch. "The startup sequence was modified for this flight to be more robust to timing variability in engine startup and flip in the desired direction, which is done to increase overall performance."

The Super Heavy V3 booster initially executed its high-thrust boostback burn using all 33 engines -- a first for this upgraded rocket -- before shutting down early. During its subsequent attempt to relight engines for the final landing burn, only a portion ignited, resulting in a hard splashdown in the Gulf of Mexico, the company said.

During Friday's test flight, Starship deployed 20 next-generation Starlink V3 satellites roughly 18 minutes after liftoff. Built at SpaceX's facility in Redmond, Washington, the upgraded satellites are larger, handle significantly more data, and feature solar blankets that generate twice the power of earlier generations.

Starship -- the largest and most powerful rocket in history -- was built by SpaceX to revolutionize space travel with full reusability and dramatically lower launch costs. It serves as the backbone for SpaceX's ambitious goals, including the rapid expansion of its Starlink network, according to CNBC.

Though intentionally slated to burn up upon reentry after 20 minutes, the deployment provided engineers with valuable real-time performance data, CNBC reported.

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