SpaceX’s latest Starship V3 rocket took flight from Texas and passed critical tests despite engine troubles. The launch marked a milestone for Elon Musk’s moon-and-Mars ambitions, arriving just as the company prepares its massive IPO.

The 407-foot vehicle lifted off with 33 upgraded Raptor 3 engines at 6:30 p.m. Eastern time. One engine on the Super Heavy booster shut down mid-flight, but the rocket pressed on. The booster attempted a boost-back burn to return but only managed a partial burn before crashing into the Gulf of Mexico, ending its flight unplanned.

SpaceX never intended to recover this booster, focusing instead on testing maneuvers critical for future missions. The booster executed a flip maneuver, a complex move needed for controlled landings. The failure to complete the boost-back burn highlighted ongoing challenges in reusability and precision recovery.

The upper-stage Starship fared better. Despite losing one of six engines, it reached its planned trajectory and deployed 20 mock Starlink satellites along with two real modified satellites. These actual satellites took photos of the spacecraft in flight, offering unprecedented data on Starship’s condition in space.

After a fiery re-entry, Starship performed a controlled landing burn and splashdown in the Indian Ocean. The vehicle landed nose-up as designed, then rolled over and exploded in a fireball. SpaceX had warned no safe recovery was planned for this test flight, which aimed to collect data on heat shield performance and validate new flight control maneuvers.

Elon Musk hailed the outcome as “an epic launch and landing” on social media, praising his team’s work. Industry analysts called the flight a “meaningful step forward” for SpaceX as it pushes toward commercial readiness for its massive reusable rocket. The test flight demonstrates progress despite visible flaws, reflecting SpaceX’s high-risk, iterative development process.

SpaceX’s Starship is crucial to Musk’s broader goals. The rocket is designed to carry Starlink satellites more cheaply and frequently, support NASA’s Artemis lunar missions, and eventually ferry humans to Mars. The company has spent over $15 billion developing Starship and secured a $3 billion NASA contract for a lunar lander variant.

The launch also arrives amid growing investor scrutiny ahead of SpaceX’s IPO, expected in June. The public offering could value the company at $1.75 trillion, banking heavily on Starship’s success. Investors will watch how SpaceX balances its appetite for pushing technical boundaries against the demands of public markets.

Starship V3 shows notable upgrades. The Super Heavy booster sports larger, stronger grid fins and a beefier fuel line to feed its 33 engines. The upper stage boasts more cameras, enhanced navigation, docking cones for in-orbit refueling, and improved engine thrust. These changes aim to perfect the rocket’s performance for missions beyond low Earth orbit.

However, challenges remain. The boost-back burn failure underscores the difficulty of precise booster landings, a key element for full reusability. The single-engine loss on the upper stage forced mission controllers to skip an in-space engine restart, limiting orbital insertion accuracy. SpaceX will need several successful flights before routine, safe returns become the norm.

NASA officials attended the launch, emphasizing the vehicle’s role in lunar exploration. Starship is slated to participate in Artemis III, where astronauts will dock in orbit with lunar landers. A crewed moon landing could follow by 2028, opening a new era of sustained lunar presence. Meanwhile, competitors like Blue Origin race to develop their own lunar landers.

SpaceX’s aggressive test program means failures are part of progress. The company’s culture embraces pushing spacecraft to their limits, then refining designs through rapid iteration. This flight, the 12th Starship test and first of the V3 model, confirms that approach. Starship edges closer to operational status, but the path remains rugged and uncertain.

Private space tourism plans continue in parallel. SpaceX is already booking clients for future lunar and Mars flights, including high-profile investors and adventurers. Yet, no firm dates or prices have emerged for these interplanetary cruises.

For now, Starship’s latest flight proves the rocket is still a work in progress. It managed to hit many technical targets, collected valuable data, and demonstrated new capabilities. The fiery splashdown was expected and accepted. The real test will be whether SpaceX can replicate and improve on this success as the IPO countdown ticks down.