It was the 13th test overall of Starship. The success is a boon to NASA’s moon plans and SpaceX’s hopes to deploy a million data centers in orbit.

SpaceX sent its 13th Starship test flight from southern Texas as NASA monitored the mission closely. The flight is vital for Moon landing plans, satellite deployment trials and proving re-entry systems.

NASA is preparing for future astronaut landings on the Moon with an unusually ambitious orbital rehearsal. During Artemis III in 2027, Orion astronauts will rendezvous and dock separately with prototype lunar landers from Blue Origin and SpaceX,

Artemis III will not land on the Moon. NASA's 2027 mission sends four astronauts to low Earth orbit to dock with test versions of SpaceX's Starship and Blue Origin's Blue Moon landers, validating the unprecedented software handover between two commercial vehicles that Artemis IV needs to reach the lunar surface in 2028.

The upper stage of a Falcon 9 rocket has been drifting in space for over a year after it launched. It's expected to crash into the moon next month.

SpaceX hopes to pick up the pace with Super Heavy-Starship test flights amid concern the rocket may not be ready in time for a planned 2027 moon landing.