STORY: Elon Musk's SpaceX on Tuesday (August 26) launched its giant Starship rocket for a tenth test flight aiming to overcome development setbacks and clinch long-sought technical milestones key to the Mars rocket's reusable design.

The towering 403-foot-tall (123 m) Starship system lifted off around 7:30 p.m. EST (2330 GMT) from SpaceX's Starbase facilities in south Texas on a mission to test the ship's new heat shield tiles and satellite deployment abilities, among hundreds of other upgrades from past iterations.

The rocket's upper half separated as planned from its Super Heavy booster, the 232-foot-tall first stage that normally returns to land in its launch tower's giant catch-arms but on Tuesday targeted the Gulf of Mexico waters to demonstrate an alternate landing engine configuration.

Meanwhile, Starship reached space on a trajectory bound for the Indian Ocean, where it later to splashed down after enduring intense heat through its atmospheric reentry - a crucial phase of the test that has shredded the rocket on past flights.

Shortly after reaching space, Starship's "Pez"-like satellite deployment system dispensed mock Starlink satellites for the first time, a milestone SpaceX either cancelled or failed to reach during past tests.

DESCRIPCIÓN DE IMÁGENES

VIDEO SHOWS: STARSHIP TAKING OFF FROM BOCA CHICA / HEAVY BOOSTER SPLASHING DOWN IN OCEAN / STARSHIP DEPLOYING MOCK SATELLITES / STARSHIP REENTERING ATMOSPHERE / STARSHIP SPLASHING DOWN IN INDIAN OCEAN

RESENDING WITH COMPLETE SCRIPT

SHOWS: BOCA CHICA, TEXAS, UNITED STATES (AUGUST 26, 2025) (SPACEX - For editorial use only / No resale)

1. VARIOUS OF STARSHIP TAKING OFF

2. STAGE SEPARATION

AT SEA (AUGUST 26, 2025) (SPACEX - For editorial use only / No resale)

3. VARIOUS OF HEAVY BOOSTER SPLASHING DOWN IN OCEAN

IN SPACE (AUGUST 26, 2025) (SPACEX - For editorial use only / No resale)

4. STARSHIP REACHING ORBIT

5. STARSHIP IN ORBIT

6. VARIOUS OF STARSHIP DEPLOYING MOCK STARLINK SATELLITES IN ORBIT

BOCA CHICA, TEXAS, UNITED STATES (AUGUST 26, 2025) (SPACEX - For editorial use only / No resale)

7. SPLIT SCREEN OF STARSHIP EMPLOYEES CHEERING

IN SPACE (AUGUST 26, 2025) (SPACEX - For editorial use only / No resale)

8. STARSHIP TESTING ENGINES

9. STARSHIP IN ORBIT

10. EXPLOSION IN ENGINES CHAMBER

11. VARIOUS OF STARSHIP REENTRYING

12. VARIOUS OF STARSHIP FLAP BURNING

13. DAMAGED FLAP

IN AIR (AUGUST 26, 2025) (SPACEX - For editorial use only / No resale)

14. STARSHIP MOVING FLAP

15. STARSHIP IGNITING ENGINES

INDIAN OCEAN (AUGUST 26, 2025) (SPACEX - For editorial use only / No resale)

16. STARSHIP SPLASHING DOWN AND EXPLODING