Georgina Rannard
Climate and science reporter

Image source, Getty Images

Ultimately, SpaceX wants its rockets and spacecrafts to be reusable. SpaceX chief executive Elon Musk frequently boasts that this will be a core feature of Starship and is an important part of the company's business model.

SpaceX has previously pulled off spectacular catches of its rocket boosters in the signature "chop-stick" manoeuvre – when two giant pincers catch the fiery booster as they fall back to Earth. The first time that happened was October 2024.

But in this launch, neither the booster nor spacecraft will be recovered for re-use. The booster landed in the Gulf of Mexico, and the Starship 14 capsule splashed down in the Pacific Ocean.

Both booster and capsule will be collected from the sea as they will have valuable information about how the vehicles coped during the flight.

SpaceX has successfully brought both parts of its Starship rocket back to Earth, after a mission that was ended early. Here's what we do and don't know:

We know:

• The rocket reached Earth's orbit for the first time today, circling the planet twice, instead of the intended six times
• It released 26 Starlink V3 satellites into space
• Both parts of the rocket landed and will be recovered – the booster splashed into the Gulf of Mexico while the top half of the rocket went up in a fireball in the Pacific Ocean
• Before the ship entered orbit, there was an issue with one of its six engines, which prompted uncertainty over whether the craft would be put into orbit
• This is because once in orbit, it's much harder to get the ship back if there's a problem

We don't know:

• Why the mission ended early – the BBC has asked SpaceX for the reason
• The issue with the engine
• Why the top half of the rocket went up in a large fireball upon landing
• When the rocket parts will be recovered

Georgina Rannard
Climate and science reporter

SpaceX will be absolutely delighted with how today went.

This was the first time they were aiming to send Starship into Earth's orbit – before now they had only made it to sub-orbit. They have now reached the velocity and height needed to propel it into orbit after deciding to push on after some drama over one engine not working properly.

It was however supposed to be a nine-hour flight with three loops of the earth, but they've cut that down to two loops now.

We don't know why, but some observers have said the capsule was looking a bit ropey, and perhaps there were signs that SpaceX wanted to bring it back early just to be cautious.

That was not the soft splashdown that the 13th test flight saw back in July. Back then, there was no big fireball like the one we just witnessed.

Nonetheless, huge cheers were heard from the crowd behind the SpaceX livestream when the rocket landed in the Pacific Ocean with a huge fireball.

Now, both parts of the rocket are in the northern hemisphere.

Image source, SpaceX

Image source, SpaceX

Starship has just splashed down in the Pacific Ocean.

That comes after the spacecraft completed about three hours of orbital flight.

The mission was supposed to last about 10 hours, but SpaceX announced it was ending early after 90 minutes.

Starship is now three hours into its flight and only a few minutes away from splashing down.

The light show you can see on the livestream shows it entering the Earth's atmosphere. It it lining up for a splashdown in the Northern Pacific, SpaceX says.

The livestream shows the "plasma build up" as it is "rapidly" slowing down, SpaceX says.

Image source, SpaceX

Starship is entering the "peak heating region of entry" as it returns to Earth, the SpaceX communications team say.

Image source, SpaceX

The Starship is continuing with its re-entry and "flaps now have control of the vehicle", SpaceX says in its latest update on its livestream.

We're now seeing Starship beginning to re-enter Earth’s atmosphere on the live stream.

If everything goes smoothly, we'll see it splash down in the Pacific Ocean in about 20 minutes.

You can watch live at the top of the page.

If the Starship's engines hadn't engaged in the de-orbit burn and it hadn't happened effectively, the consequences would have been that the Starship could have stayed orbiting Earth, science journalist Caroline Steel tells the BBC.

This would add to the space junk problem that we have, she says.

SpaceX "really only wanted to keep orbiting if they were sure they would be able to get the Starship back down to earth", she adds.

"That was incredibly impressive seeing how small and short that engine blast was to get the rocket back down to Earth. Tiny changes in angles and speeds really add up over time."

Steel explains now the rocket is going in a slightly different direction, and the gravitational pull will bring it back down to Earth.

SpaceX has just given another update on the timeline.

The team expects a "light show" to start within the next 30 minutes, as Starship moves through the upper parts of Earth's atmosphere.

We can expect to see the plasma build up as Starship makes its way through.

The "formal entry point" is expected about two hours and 47 minutes into the flight, according to the live stream host. That is about 30 minutes from now.

SpaceX is targeting a landing at around three hours, eight minutes and 30 seconds into the flight, the host adds.

We will continue to bring you updates, and you can watch live at the top of the page.

Image source, SpaceX

Starship is now starting its de-orbit burn, about two hours and 12 minutes into the flight.

It is set to splash down in the Pacific Ocean in about an hour.

It was supposed to de-orbit about nine hours into the mission.

SpaceX has announced that the mission is ending early, with the ship reaching its first checkpoint about 90 minutes into the flight.

Starship is preparing for its de-orbit burn, says SpaceX on social media.

The burn will last about 11 seconds, marking the start of its return to Earth.

Nasa administrator Jared Isaacman has congratulated SpaceX on its Starship mission.

Writing on X he said it was a, external "gorgeous launch, getting Ship to orbit and managing every step in a safe, responsible, and especially inspirational way".

He added that Nasa is "excited to help where we can and for Starship missions to become routine!"

In 2024, Isaacman became the first non-professional astronaut to walk in space.

Image source, SpaceX

Starlink satellites delivered into orbit will 'greatly' increase user speeds – SpaceX

One of the objectives of the mission, which has already been completed, was the delivery of 26 "next generation" Starlink V3 satellites into orbit.

Those join the existing Starlink constellation in low Earth orbit which deliver broadband internet on Earth.

The new satellites added today will "greatly expand the network's capacity and user speeds", SpaceX says.

As we reported earlier, the satellites were carried into orbit by the Starship. After exiting the Starship they unfold their antennas and make initial contact with the ground and the rest of the satellite constellation via radio and laser links, SpaceX says.

Despite returning the craft early, the SpaceX host says: "this has been a wildly successful day so far".

All 26 Starlink V3 satellites have been deployed, as we reported earlier.

In an updated timeline, the host says the deorbit burn will happen around two hours and 12 minutes into the flight. That is about 40 minutes from now.

Starship is then set to land in the Pacific Ocean a little over three hours into the mission.

For now, Starship is in orbit and will remain there, the host says.

The SpaceX livestream host has just said that Starship will return to Earth earlier than the planned 10-hour flight in space.

"We are looking like we are going to take our first checkpoint and come back early," the host says. "Essentially all that means is we're not going to spend as many orbits around Earth."

We’ll bring you more on this soon.

As we've just mentioned, the SpaceX team will decide within 20 minutes whether Starship will return home early.

According to the livestream, "some discussions" are under way. The mission had planned to have the rocket orbit the Earth six times.

"We're only going to continue if we're really confident that everything's looking healthy on those key systems," the SpaceX livestream host says. "A couple of minutes to go until we get to that point."

Image source, SpaceX

All 26 Starlink V3 satellites have now been deployed from Starship.

SpaceX says it is shortly going to reach it's initial checkpoint. That’s where the team can check everything and decide whether Starship needs to return early.

If nothing goes wrong, Starship will complete its six orbits as planned and return to Earth in about nine hours.

An orbit takes around 90 minutes.