SpaceX conducts 13th Starship test flight - SpaceNews

What the report says

SpaceNews reported that SpaceX flew its 13th suborbital Starship test mission on July 24 from Starbase, Texas, lifting off at 6:51 p.m. Eastern after a one-day delay caused by clouds that would have limited ascent imagery. The flight used Starship V3, an upgraded version of the vehicle SpaceX plans to employ for future orbital missions, and followed a profile similar to the prior test while evaluating fixes after Flight 12 engine problems.

The mission marked a notable payload milestone: the Starship upper stage released 20 functional Starlink V3 satellites, rather than mass simulators used on earlier flights. According to SpaceNews, the satellites remained on the same suborbital path as Starship and underwent roughly 20 minutes of checks, including solar array and antenna deployment and communications with ground stations and other Starlink spacecraft. A SpaceX executive said on social media that the company received key telemetry through radio-frequency and laser links.

The Super Heavy booster was not intended to return to the launch tower and instead aimed for a soft Gulf of Mexico splashdown. SpaceX said not all engines required for the landing burn ignited, so the booster struck the water faster than planned. Starship later completed a longer Raptor relight test, reentered and splashed down in the Indian Ocean about 65 and a half minutes after launch, remaining intact in the water long enough to continue sending imagery.

SpaceNews also noted that an earlier July 16 attempt was aborted after several booster engines failed to ignite properly because of turbopump issues linked to frozen moisture. SpaceX has not announced its next mission plan, though company President Gwynne Shotwell previously suggested a successful Flight 13 could lead to an orbital attempt on Flight 14.