SpaceX's giant Super Heavy-Starship rocket blasts off on key test flight

July 24, 2026 / 8:39 PM EDT

/ CBS News

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SpaceX launched its thirteenth Super Heavy-Starship rocket Thursday, with the giant booster chalking up an on-target but "hard" splashdown off the Texas Gulf Coast while the Starship upper stage carried out a successful sub-orbital hop to the Indian Ocean.Powered by 33 methane-fueled Raptor engines, the 397-foot-tall two-stage rocket blasted off from SpaceX's "Starbase," Texas, launch site at 5:51 p.m. EDT, putting on a spectacular show for area residents and tourists as it climbed away atop some 16 million pounds of thrust.

SpaceX's giant Super Heavy-Starship rocket blasts off on key test flight

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