Epic new video from this week’s Starship launch shows the giant spacecraft’s final moments just before it crashes into the Indian Ocean.
Spacecraft took off for its eleventh test flight Monday October 13, from SpaceX Starbase facility in South Texas. This was the final launch of the current 397-foot-tall (121-meter-tall) version of the Super Heavy booster and the ship’s upper stage; a larger variant is expected to debut on Starship Flight 12.
Similar to Starship’s tenth flight, Flight Test 11 was a complete success and even performed better than its predecessor, which suffered more physical damage during its descent into Earth’s atmosphere. EspaceX job new images from Monday’s mission that make this even clearer, showing much less distress for the vehicle, compared to Vol 10and much less fading of the spacecraft’s heat shield.
Flight Test 11 achieved all of its mission objectives, from launch to booster descent and splashdown in the Gulf, as well as the ship’s successful splashdown in the Indian Ocean. This was the second launch of the flight’s Super Heavy booster. This is also the second consecutive test flight that Starship has achieved everything SpaceX hoped for, and a positive step forward in the rocket’s development.
The spacecraft managed, once again, to deploy a stack of eight simulated Starlink satellites and successfully initiate the re-ignition of the Raptor engine while in space. But this week’s launch deviated from the Flight 10 mission profile with variations in some of the vehicle’s engine burn profiles – carried out in preparation for the upgraded Version 3 of the rocket.
Final descent and water landing of Starship on Flight 11, captured by the SpaceX recovery team in the Indian Ocean pic.twitter.com/TzvFnf8Z6dOctober 14, 2025
The upper stage landing, in particular, differed from its previous flight and this time mimicked the approach it will need to return to its launch site, where the rocket’s launch tower is designed to catch and secure the spaceship when it lands, burn in open air.
SpaceX cameras attached to drones and buoys captured the Starship’s descent through the clouds in crystal clear detail. The video follows the vehicle as it launched its new flip-and-burn landing maneuver that moves the Starship from a “prone” position to an upright orientation, while its engines steered the vehicle and slowed its momentum.
