Starship Test Flight Success: SpaceX Rocket Lands in Indian Ocean After 90-Minute Window | N18G

Added: 2026-05-24

[00:00:03]- 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 ignition.

[00:00:18]We have set you down range.

[00:00:39]booster chamber pressure nominal.

[00:00:47]All right, we are T plus 30 seconds into flight. C 33 out of 33 Raptor 3 engines on booster V3 ascending over the Gulf now. Coming up on maximum aerodynamic pressure.

[00:01:02]>> Booster and ship. Avionics power telemetry nominal.

[00:01:06]>> Systems looking good. We're just passing through the period of maximum dynamic pressure.

[00:01:17]A little over a minute into flight now.

[00:01:20]Vibrations chilling out here at Star Factory as we continue to watch Starship flight 12 arc out over the Gulf. The next major thing coming up is going to be hot staging.

[00:01:33]>> Booster props.

[00:01:35]We do what's our version of MO. Most engines cut off. So, we're going to shut down all but five of the Raptor engines on the booster.

[00:01:46]And then after that happens, we're going to ignite the six engines on ship while it is still attached.

[00:01:54]We have clamps that hold the two together. Those are going to retract inside of that hot stage ring, kind of protect them.

[00:02:03]Looks like we had one of the engines go out. Still flying on 32 of the Raptor engines. But again, once we get the hot staging, those six engines on the ship are going to ignite. We're going to do it in a little bit different of a of a sequence on version three. Essentially, those three Arvac engines will ignite first. We're going to attempt to uh our final two satellites going out the door have a suite of cameras on them that are going to be looking back at the ship.

[00:02:37]We're going to be in nighttime and so we've got sounds like we're getting into payload deploy. We'll be in nighttime. They've got some powerful uh flashlights on them to try and illuminate the ship's heat shield while we fly away from it. So, oh, we see some PEZ motion.

[00:03:06][cheering] [applause] [cheering] Pew. Pew. [cheering and applause] >> [cheering] >> two down, 20 to go. [cheering] [applause] As a reminder, that's that's one of the things that we upgraded in version three. Kind of gave the a little soup up to the the PEZ dispenser. So, those satellites going to move out a little bit quicker than they did on previous uh Starship flight tests.

[00:03:58]So, first two out the door, two more on their way out.

[00:04:03][cheering] [applause] [applause] [cheering] >> [applause] [cheering] >> All right, four down, 18 to go.

[00:04:27][music] [cheering] [music] [applause] >> [cheering] [music] >> All right. So, surprise. Looks like our cameras did work. We've made contact with both of those satellites.

[00:05:14]We're going to roll that back again.

[00:05:18]Again, this is a view from from one of those satellites as we deployed. It looks like this was from the last one out. Flashlight turning on.

[00:05:28]Taking a look at Starship in space.

[00:05:33]The way this system is set up is the satellites are essentially recording it, then making contact with our Starling constellation, and then transferring that video back down to us on the ground.

[00:05:47]>> Yeah. And if you remember the suborbital flights from a few years ago, this is very much the same regime that we're in here. So, we're sub 15 km executing what we call the belly flip maneuver.

[00:06:00]>> Ah, yes. Serial number eight. The first belly flop. I remember it well.

[00:06:14]Just some really amazing views of the Earth as the ship is coming back home.

[00:06:22]Thanks, Starlink.

[00:06:31]Yeah, you can see the aft flap there making minor corrections.

[00:06:35]>> Starship is turning for final approach to landing site.

[00:06:39]>> Look at that turn.

[00:06:40]>> There we go. Minor corrections and a full turn.

[00:06:46]>> Yeah, Starship doesn't fly like an airplane. It's a lot more like a skydiver.

[00:06:51]full belly flop on the way down. Using those flaps similar to arms to help change the the the path of the air over you coming up real soon. Again, going for a landing burn. Trying to light two of these Raptor sea level engines.

[00:07:11]>> Landing burn startup.

[00:07:13]>> Landing burn startup.

[00:07:17]Two engine lit.

[00:07:24]Successful clip.

[00:07:28][cheering] [cheering] >> Good shot.

[00:07:39]>> Oh.

[00:07:42][cheering] [cheering] Amazing.

[00:07:51][cheering and applause] [cheering] That wall of fire is exactly what we wanted to see for [cheering] the ship today. As weird as it may sound to to to hear, but it is the truth.

[00:08:10]>> Absolutely wild. We, you know, at the beginning of the show, [cheering] >> we're pretty hyped.

[00:08:19]>> We guaranteed excitement at the beginning of the show, and I'd say Starship delivered.

[00:08:24]>> Absolutely.

[00:08:25]An incredible day for Starship. That was the first flight of that completely redesigned vehicle. Uh, as you could tell, the teams are incredibly proud of, uh, what we just saw.

[00:08:38]>> Yeah, V3 definitely showed up. That was that was amazing.

[00:08:42]>> Yeah.