SpaceX Starship Flight 13 Stages a Near-Perfect Run, Deploys 20 Starlinks, and Nails Dream Splashdown

SpaceX’s Starship Flight 13, the Starship V3 upgrade, capped a near-perfect test: the Super Heavy booster fired all 33 engines and later relit 13 for a controlled landing, Starship completed its burn and even reignited an engine mid-flight, and then delivered 20 Starlink satellites (all contacted) before a “softest splashdown” in the Indian Ocean. The mission also showcased heat-shield performance and a successful hot-staging separation, while NASA officials framed the flight as progress toward crewed lunar goals; future milestones include orbital flight and in-space refueling before manned missions.