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SpaceX successfully deployed the first third-generation Starlink satellites on Friday using an upgraded version of its prototype Starship \u2014 the 13th test flight of its mega-rocket to date. But the company suffered another failure with its Super Heavy booster during a planned simulated landing in the Gulf of Mexico.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s the second time the company has had an issue with the Super Heavy booster on this V3 version of Starship. In May, on the first Starship V3 flight, SpaceX encountered a failure of the Starship\u2019s Super Heavy booster as it separated from the upper stage of the rocket.<\/p>\n
The launch came a little more than a week after SpaceX tried to conduct the 13th Starship launch. That attempt had to abort immediately after ignition due to a number of rocket engine failures<\/a>. SpaceX said it replaced six engines ahead of Friday\u2019s flight to fix the problem.<\/p>\n During Friday\u2019s launch, the booster made it farther into its planned flight but wasn\u2019t able to properly fire up all of the engines required for its simulated landing burn. The booster exploded after a faster-than-expected impact with the water.<\/p>\n This was the first launch of Starship since SpaceX went public in June in the largest IPO in history<\/a>. In a test of SpaceX\u2019s \u201cfly, fail, fix\u201d approach to Starship development, the company saw its stock decline last week in the day following the launch abort. The dip is part of a larger downward trend since the IPO that has seen the company\u2019s stock drop from a peak of more than $200 per share to $115 at the close of trading on Friday. In after-hours trading, SpaceX shares fell another 2% following the booster failure, before paring some of those losses.<\/p>\n SpaceX appears to have had better luck with the Starship V3 upper stage during Friday\u2019s launch. The upper stage lost a rocket engine during the first V3 launch in May. That didn\u2019t happen this time around, as Starship encountered no issues on its way to deploying the new Starlinks. <\/p>\n The new Starlink satellites are expected to burn up in the atmosphere roughly 20 minutes after deployment, as Starship still isn\u2019t capable of reaching Earth orbit.<\/p>\n This story is developing\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n When you purchase through links in our articles, we may earn a small commission<\/a>. This doesn\u2019t affect our editorial independence.<\/em><\/p>\n