SpaceX conducted its 11th test flight of the Starship rocket, launching from Texas on October 13, 2025. The flight successfully made it halfway around the world while deploying mock satellites, echoing the goals of previous missions. The Starship, identified as "the biggest and most powerful rocket ever built," performed as expected, with the booster making a controlled entry into the Gulf of Mexico while the spacecraft descended into the Indian Ocean. No components were recovered after the mission, which lasted just over an hour, according to SCMP, CBS News, Reuters, NPR, Le Monde, India Times, and LA Times.

Elon Musk, the founder and CEO of SpaceX, noted this was the first time he chose to observe the test flight outside Mission Control, describing the experience as “much more visceral.” This particular launch represents significant progress towards SpaceX's ultimate goal of sending humans to Mars while also fulfilling NASA's critical needs for lunar landings by the decade's end. NASA requires the 403-foot Starship for missions that involve transporting astronauts from lunar orbit to the surface. The previous test flight, which took place in August, ended a series of explosive failures and laid the groundwork for the successful complexities of this mission, according to SCMP, CBS News, Reuters, NPR, Le Monde, India Times, and LA Times.

During the flight, Starship transported eight mock satellites resembling SpaceX’s Starlink products. The mission's objectives included testing various entry procedures as part of preparations for future landings back at the launch site in Texas. Sean Duffy, NASA's acting administrator, praised the launch as "another major step toward landing Americans on the moon's south pole," indicating strong collaboration and shared goals between SpaceX and NASA, as reported by SCMP, CBS News, Reuters, NPR, Le Monde, India Times, and LA Times.