SpaceX's Super Heavy-Starship blasts off on 13th test flight
An upgraded version of the world's most powerful rocket is key to landing NASA astronauts on the moon in the agency's Artemis program.
Updated on: July 24, 2026 / 8:44 PM EDT / CBS News
SpaceX launched its 13th Super Heavy-Starship rocket Friday, with the giant booster chalking up an on-target but "hard" splashdown off the Texas Gulf Coast while the Starship upper stage carried out a successful suborbital hop to the Indian Ocean.
Powered by 33 methane-fueled Raptor engines, the 397-foot-tall two-stage rocket blasted off from SpaceX's Starbase, Texas, launch site at 5:51 p.m. ET, putting on a spectacular show for area residents and tourists as it climbed away atop some 16 million pounds of thrust.
A launch attempt July 16 ended with a last-second computer-commanded abort when four Raptors failed to start properly. Those issues were addressed, and the launch was reset for Thursday, only to have low clouds prompt a 24-hour delay.
But the weather cooperated Friday, all 33 first-stage engines fired up normally, and the rocket thundered away through a mostly clear sky.
It was the second test flight of a third-generation Super Heavy-Starship, building on lessons learned during the initial flight of a "V3" rocket in May when the booster missed its landing target, and the Starship suffered an early engine shutdown on the way to space.