Watch a charred SpaceX Starship land in the ocean after acing Flight Test 11 (video)

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Epic new video from this week’s Starship launch show’s the giant spacecraft’s last moments just before it splashed down in the Indian ocean.

Starship lifted off on its eleventh check flight Monday, Oct. 13, from SpaceX’s Starbase facility in South Texas. It was the last launch of the current, 397-foot-tall (121-meter-tall) model of the Super Heavy booster and Ship higher stage; a taller variant is set to debut on Starship flight 12.

Similar to Starship’s tenth flight, Flight Test 11 was a full success, and even fared better than its predecessor, which took more bodily injury during its descent back through Earth’s ambiance. SpaceX posted new footage from Monday’s mission that makes that even clearer, exhibiting considerably less misery to the vehicle, in contrast to Flight 10, and far less discoloration to the spacecraft’s heatshield.

Flight Test 11 achieved all of its mission targets, from launch to booster descent and splashdown in the Gulf, and Ship’s profitable splashdown in the Indian Ocean. It was the second launch for the flight’s Super Heavy booster. It’s also the second check flight in a row that Starship has achieved all SpaceX hoped it might, and a optimistic step ahead in the rocket’s development.

The spacecraft managed, once again, to deploy a stack of eight simulated Starlink satellites, and efficiently initiated a Raptor engine relight while in space. But this week’s launch diverted from Flight 10’s mission profile with variations in some of the vehicle’s engine burn profiles — carried out in preparation for the rocket’s upgraded model 3.

The higher stage’s touchdown burn, particularly, differed from its earlier flight, and this time mimicked the method it’ll need for a return to its launch website, where the rocket’s launch tower is designed to catch and secure Starship during its touchdown burn midair.

SpaceX cameras secured to drones and buoys captured Starship’s descent through the clouds in crystal clear element. The video tracks the vehicle as it initiated its novel flip-and-burn touchdown maneuver that transitions Starship from a ‘bellyflop’ place to an upright orientation, as its engines oriented the vehicle and slowed its momentum.