SpaceX closed a major chapter in its Starship development program on Monday evening, launching what appeared to be a nearly flawless suborbital test flight with its upgraded Version 2 Starship-Super Heavy rocket. The mission, designated Integrated Flight Test-11 (IFT-11), marked the final flight of this iteration of the world’s tallest and most powerful rocket as the company transitions to the next generation — Starship Version 3.
Starship's eleventh flight test reached every objective, providing valuable data as SpaceX prepares for the next generation of Starship and Super Heavy Credit: SpaceX
The towering 400-foot rocket lifted off from Pad A at Starbase in South Texas at 6:23 p.m. CDT (7:23 p.m. EDT / 2323 UTC), soaring skyward on a one-hour mission that ended with successful splashdowns of both stages — the Super Heavy booster in the Gulf of Mexico and the Starship upper stage in the Indian Ocean.
The first stage, Super Heavy Booster B15, performed admirably despite a minor anomaly during ascent when one of its 13 Raptor engines failed to reignite for the boostback burn. SpaceX engineers later confirmed the engine came back online for the landing sequence — a newly tested configuration that transitioned from 13 to five to three engines before splashdown. This was B15’s second and final mission, following its debut during Starship Flight 8 in March.
Meanwhile, the upper stage, Starship S38, continued along a suborbital path toward the Indian Ocean, successfully deploying eight metal satellite simulators designed to mimic the size and mass of future Starlink V3 satellites. The spacecraft also reignited one of its sea-level Raptor engines midflight to perform a simulated deorbit burn, a maneuver critical for future orbital and reentry operations.
Starship S38 endured the extreme heat and pressure of atmospheric reentry, maintaining structural integrity through the mission’s most demanding phases. One of SpaceX’s primary goals for IFT-11 was to collect performance data on the heat shield’s thermal protection system, a key milestone as the company refines Starship for orbital missions.
A Turning Point Toward Version 3
IFT-11 was the second consecutive successful Starship flight, following August’s IFT-10, and a welcome result after three earlier failures this year (IFT-7, IFT-8, and IFT-9). It also marked the final launch from Pad A in its current configuration, as SpaceX prepares to shift future Starship flights to Pad B, where Version 3 of the vehicle is under assembly.
The new version will introduce numerous design changes aimed at achieving full orbital capability and payload deployment missions, including those for NASA’s Artemis lunar program.
NASA has contracted SpaceX to use Starship as its Human Landing System (HLS) for the Artemis 3 and Artemis 4 missions, which aim to return astronauts to the Moon’s surface by mid-2027. Before that, SpaceX must successfully demonstrate cryogenic propellant transfer in orbit, a critical capability that will enable long-duration missions to the Moon and eventually Mars.
An uncrewed lunar landing test is also required before astronauts can ride Starship to the lunar surface. While the timeline for that demonstration remains uncertain, the agency continues to emphasize its goal of landing U.S. astronauts on the Moon before China’s planned 2030 crewed lunar mission.
Acting NASA Administrator Sean Duffy praised Monday’s mission, saying it “represents real progress toward America’s return to the lunar surface and beyond.”
Looking Beyond the Moon
Beyond NASA contracts, SpaceX views Starship as the cornerstone of its long-term vision to make humanity a multi-planetary species. The company hopes to conduct uncrewed Mars test missions as early as 2026, with operational research and cargo flights to the Red Planet targeted for the early 2030s.
In August, SpaceX even signed its first Mars customer — the Italian Space Agency — marking a symbolic first step toward commercial interplanetary missions.
As SpaceX closes the book on Starship Version 2, the company’s sights are now firmly set on Version 3 — a spacecraft intended not just to reach orbit, but to transform how humanity explores space.
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