SpaceX eyes tower catch for next Starship after auspicious end to 13th flight

SpaceX achieved a major milestone Friday with its 13th Starship test flight, ending with the first intact splashdown of the vehicle in open water. Per Ars Technica, the spacecraft returned from an hour-long suborbital flight and settled gently in the Indian Ocean west of Australia—a stark contrast to previous landings marked by explosions. Engineers inspected Starship's 18,000 heat-shield tiles, which weathered reentry at 2,600 degrees Fahrenheit, providing crucial data for SpaceX's goal of rapidly reusable spacecraft. During the flight, Starship deployed 20 upgraded Starlink V3 satellites, gathering performance data before they burned up as designed. The vehicle also successfully executed a brief engine restart—demonstrating core capabilities for eventual orbital missions. Elon Musk announced the next flight will attempt a bolder feat: catching Starship itself with mechanical arms on the launch tower, a maneuver SpaceX has already demonstrated with the Super Heavy booster.

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