WASHINGTON — SpaceX conducted another test of its massive Starship rocket on Monday, completing a successful voyage halfway around the globe while deploying fake satellites as it did in a previous test.

The Starship — noted for being the largest and most formidable rocket ever constructed — soared into the evening sky from the southernmost area of Texas. The booster seamlessly detached and descended into the Gulf of Mexico as intended, with the spacecraft briefly touching the edge of space before splashing down in the Indian Ocean. None of the materials was collected post-flight.

“Hey, welcome back to Earth, Starship,” SpaceX’s Dan Huot announced as employees cheered. “What a day.”

This marked the 11th test mission of a full-scale Starship design. SpaceX’s founder and CEO, Elon Musk, has ambitions to employ these rockets to transport humans to Mars. However, NASA requires the 403-foot (123-meter) Starship immediately to achieve its goal of landing astronauts on the moon by the close of this decade. This reusable vessel is vital for ferrying astronauts from lunar orbit to the moon’s surface and returning them.

Instead of remaining inside Launch Control as usual, Musk said that for the first time he was going outside to watch — “much more visceral.”

The last test flight in August — notable for its success following several explosive attempts — followed a path with akin objectives. This iteration included enhanced maneuvers, primarily concerning the spacecraft. SpaceX executed various trials during the spacecraft’s descent over the Indian Ocean in preparation for eventual landings back at the launch location.

As in the prior trial, Starship carried eight dummy satellites designed to replicate SpaceX’s Starlink satellites. The entire mission lasted slightly more than an hour, departing from Starbase near the Mexican border.

NASA’s acting administrator Sean Duffy commended the progress made by Starship. “A significant step forward in achieving the goal of landing Americans at the moon’s south pole,” he stated via X.

SpaceX is modifying its Cape Canaveral launch sites to accommodate Starships, in addition to the much smaller Falcon rockets used to transport astronauts and supplies to the International Space Station for NASA.

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