SpaceX Launch Hits Key Milestone in Elon Musk’s Mars Journey (1)

SpaceX’s Starship successfully put satellites in space for the first time, a major milestone for the Elon Musk-led company after a year marked by explosive test flights and development setbacks.

Tuesday’s mission from its Texas launch site brings SpaceX closer to being able to use the vehicle to start lofting its Starlink internet satellites and, eventually, replace the company’s workhorse Falcon 9 altogether.

The relatively smooth test flight comes after the first two launches of 2025 blew up within minutes, and a third failed to deploy dummy satellites and spun out of control. Another Starship spacecraft exploded on ...