News, Fast

Atom Brief

Jul 16, 2026 · Archive

SpaceX Flies Starship Flight 13, First Test Since Its IPO

SpaceX Flies Starship Flight 13, First Test Since Its IPO

Starship's Thursday window at Starbase, Texas runs 90 minutes, testing an in-space engine relight and releasing 20 Starlink satellites.

  • Super Heavy booster is expected to land in the Gulf of Mexico after separation.
  • SpaceX calls Version 3 "a clean-sheet design," per engineering director Charlie Cox.
  • Flight 12 lost a Raptor engine and had booster trouble returning to Earth.

Why it matters: Selling shares in June turned every future launch failure into a cost the public itself will bear.

ZeroHedge ↗ · Jul 16, 20267/16/26