SpaceX launched its 13th Starship test flight on July 24, finally deploying functioning satellites after previous missions made do with pretend ones. The upgraded Starship V3 lifted off from Starbase, Texas, at 6:51 p.m. Eastern, a day late because clouds - which apparently are not a launch constraint but do ruin the photos.

Flight 13 aimed to fix engine failures from Flight 12, but the Super Heavy booster still had ignition issues, splashing down harder than intended in the Gulf of Mexico. The upper stage, however, successfully deployed 20 Starlink V3 satellites - the real kind, not mass simulators. They spent about 20 minutes testing solar arrays, antennas, and laser links before reentry, with SpaceX exec Michael Nicolls proudly reporting successful communications via RF and lasers.

Starship also performed a 14-second Raptor engine relight, then executed a reentry and soft splashdown in the Indian Ocean 65½ minutes after launch. Remarkably, it didn't explode immediately, floating long enough to return imagery - a "dream scenario" for heat shield data, per SpaceX spokesperson Dan Huot.

The launch was originally aborted on July 16 when four of 33 Super Heavy engines failed to ignite due to frozen moisture in their liquid oxygen turbopumps. SpaceX replaced the engines and tested them on the pad, with one removed engine acing a full-duration burn in McGregor, Texas. Plans for future missions remain unannounced, but President Gwynne Shotwell hinted that Flight 14 might attempt the first orbital mission, with Flight 15 launching from Florida.