Elon Musk says "Starship is intact, floating in the ocean" after test flight lands in Indian Ocean

SpaceX conducted its first successful test flight of the Starship rocket since the company went public in June, launching the 122-meter craft from its Texas facility on July 24, 2026, and landing it gently in the Indian Ocean. Company head Elon Musk posted on X that the vehicle remained intact, was floating, and still sending data. The approximately hour-long mission deployed 20 Starlink satellites and tested heat-shield upgrades, though the booster’s landing was harder than expected. The achievement matters because NASA has contracted SpaceX to develop a modified Starship for lunar landings, and the flight demonstrated progress toward that goal.