SpaceX successfully completed its 13th Starship test flight on July 24, 2026, featuring a soft splashdown of the upper stage in the Indian Ocean.
CDT, marked the second flight of the Starship Version 3 (V3) iteration. After an hour and five minutes of flight, the spacecraft settled northwest of Australia, providing engineers with an unprecedented opportunity to inspect the vehicle’s thermal protection system while floating.
Heat Shield Data and the Indian Ocean Splashdown
For the first time in the program’s history, a Starship vessel remained fully intact after hitting the water. The ship gently tipped over and floated in a remote stretch of the Indian Ocean, allowing SpaceX to use drones and onboard cameras to inspect more than 18,000 ceramic tiles. These tiles are designed to withstand temperatures reaching 2,600° Fahrenheit (1,430° Celsius) during reentry.
“This is the first time we’ve put an intact Starship in the water,” said Dan Huot, a SpaceX communications manager providing commentary on the company’s live webcast. “This is a dream scenario for the team that’s trying to get this heat shield data.”
Dan Huot, SpaceX communications manager
The data is critical because SpaceX intends for the heat shield to be robust enough for rapid turnarounds without needing replacement after every flight.
Beyond the shield, the mission served as a real-world test for the deployment of 20 Starlink V3 satellites. These satellites were released one by one via a payload dispenser.
Super Heavy Booster Failures and the Gulf Splashdown
While the upper stage succeeded, the 33-engine Super Heavy booster encountered significant issues during its return. The booster performed its ascent and initial flip as planned, but the boostback burn ended prematurely. As the rocket descended toward the Gulf of Mexico, only 10 of 13 intended engines restarted to slow the vehicle.
By the time of impact, only five engines appeared to be running, resulting in a “hard” splashdown. Despite hardware modifications intended to improve relight reliability, the V3 booster has yet to achieve a fully controlled water landing.
Implications for NASA and the Artemis Timeline
The success of the Starship upper stage is a positive signal for NASA, which relies on a variant of this vehicle to serve as the human landing system for the Artemis program targeted for 2028.
However, the program faces a tight window. NASA’s Artemis 3 mission will include a docking between the Orion spacecraft and Starship. As of now, the moon lander variant has not yet flown, and no Starship of any kind has yet been put into Earth orbit.
To reach that milestone and achieve human flight certification, SpaceX must transition from suborbital hops to full orbital trajectories.
Following the data review of Flight 13, Elon Musk indicated a shift in strategy for the next mission. SpaceX will attempt to catch the ship with the tower arms on the next flight, provided no critical problems are discovered in the mission data. This would move the recovery challenge from the booster to the ship itself, potentially proving the full reusability of the entire stack.
