SpaceX released footage on July 31 showing its Starship upper stage in space, captured by cameras aboard the company's next-generation Starlink V3 satellites during Flight 13 last week.
What Happened
Starship launched its 13th test flight from South Texas on July 24. For the first time, the vehicle deployed functional Starlink internet satellites into space — 20 Starlink V3 spacecraft, six of which carried cameras to scan Starship's heat shield. SpaceX shared a 65-second video on X that evening composed of imagery from four different cameras on a single V3 satellite. The footage shows the 171-foot-tall (52 meters) upper stage drifting away, with three of its six Raptor engines firing and white vapor indicating use of reaction control thrusters. Like all Starship test missions to date, Flight 13 followed a suborbital trajectory; the satellites returned to Earth roughly 20 minutes after deployment, splashing down in the Indian Ocean off Western Australia about 65 minutes after liftoff.
Why It Matters
The imagery represents an operational milestone for Starlink V3, which SpaceX is positioning as critical infrastructure for its broadband constellation. The company has filed with the U.S. Federal Communications Commission to operate up to 100,000 Starlink V3 satellites — far larger than its current fleet of nearly 11,000 V2 craft, which are considerably smaller than the 4,400-pound V3 iteration. Starship's ability to deploy these next-generation satellites at scale could reshape the economics and capacity of SpaceX's internet service business.
The Bottom Line
Starship remains in development while Super Heavy's booster experienced anomalies during Flight 13, hitting the Gulf of Mexico at a higher-than-planned velocity with only five engines firing its landing burn instead of the intended 13. SpaceX has slated Starship to support NASA's Artemis III astronaut mission by mid-2027 and an Artemis IV lunar landing in late 2028.