Starship Flight 10 achieves every major objective after recent disappointments

Flight 10 launched on Tuesday 26th August at 6.30pm local time (Wednesday 27th August at 00.30am, BST), after scrubs the two previous days. And the test flight was a glorious success, following the disappointment with flights 7, 8, and 9 of the Block 2 upper stage ship which promised “major improvements to reliability and performance”.

Flight 10 waiting to launch. Credit: SpaceX

Worthy of an Oscar! Credit: SpaceX

Any lift-off is a spectacular sight - and this was no exception. Whoever was doing the filming should be awarded an Oscar for Best Cinematography. All 33 Raptor engines ignited as Starship roared upwards.

Following stage separation, the Super Heavy booster completed its boostback burn to return to a pre-planned splashdown zone. No catch attempt by the tower’s chopsticks was contemplated for this particular test flight. As the booster initiated its landing burn, one of the three centre engines was intentionally disabled during the final phases and a backup engine from the middle ring was fired up. Super Heavy hovered over the water before shutting down its engines. A first objective success.

Starship completed a full-duration ascent burn, successfully putting it on a sub-orbital trajectory.

The payload door opened 17 minutes into the flight and, one by one, eight Starlink dummy satellites were deployed - a first for Starship. Different interior cameras gave us great views of this happening in real time. This was the second major objective success.

The ship then completed the second ever in-space relight of a Raptor engine, crucial for future missions. Another major objective ticked off.

A spectacular view of all 33 Raptor engines of the Super Heavy booster at ignition. Credit: SpaceX

Starship makes a soft landing in the Indian Ocean. Credit: SpaceX

Moving into the critical re-entry phase, still with an amazing livestream thanks to Starlink, Starship was able to gather important data on the performance of its heatshield and structure as it was intentionally stressed to push the vehicle’s capabilities. Apart from some minor damage to the aft skirting and a flap happening at T+47 minutes, all seemed remarkably good - and we were finally treated to a landing flip, landing burn, and soft splashdown in the Indian Ocean. The final major objective success.

Exciting stuff, and great to finally see a test flight of the Block 2 Starship that went according to plan.

Written by Iain Scott, 28th August 2025