SpaceX's Starship deploys first mock Starlink satellites on 10th test flight

A SpaceX Super Heavy booster carrying the Starship spacecraft lifts off on its 10th test flight at the company's launch pad in Starbase, Texas. (Courtesy: Reuters photo)

Elon Musk's SpaceX on Tuesday launched its giant Starship rocket for a tenth test flight aiming to overcome development setbacks and clinch long-sought technical milestones key to the Mars rocket's reusable design.

The towering 403-foot-tall (123 m) Starship system lifted off around 7.30pm EST (2330 GMT) from SpaceX's Starbase facilities in south Texas on a mission to test the ship's new heat shield tiles and satellite deployment abilities, among hundreds of other upgrades from past iterations.

The rocket's upper half separated as planned from its Super Heavy booster, the 232-foot-tall first stage that normally returns to land in its launch tower's giant catch-arms but on Tuesday targeted the Gulf of Mexico waters to demonstrate an alternate landing engine configuration.

Meanwhile, Starship reached space on a trajectory bound for the Indian Ocean, where it is poised to splash down after enduring intense heat through its atmospheric reentry - a crucial phase of the test that has shredded the rocket on past flights.

Shortly after reaching space, Starship's "Pez"-like satellite deployment system dispensed mock Starlink satellites for the first time, a milestone SpaceX either cancelled or failed to reach during past tests.