The Starship before its 11th test flight (Photo: SpaceX).
SpaceX on Tuesday (Monday, October 13, 6:23 pm US Central Time) launched the 11th test flight of its megarocket — Starship. The Starship completed the one-hour flight and crashed into the Indian Ocean as planned.
The initial few tests of the Starship were unsuccessful. However, this test flight achieved “every major objective”. SpaceX said the test flight provided valuable data as for the next generation of Starship and Super Heavy.
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The Starship was launched from SpaceX’s Starbase in Texas at 23:20 GMT. The rockets upper stage was stacked atop its Super Heavy booster. Its design makes it the largest ever space rocket.
World's Tallest Rockets Championship
SpaceX Starship Claims the Crown in 2025
1
Starship
403 ft
SpaceX 2025
2
Saturn V
363 ft
NASA 1967-73
3
Russian N1
345 ft
USSR Failed
4
NASA SLS
322 ft
Current
5
Falcon Heavy
230 ft
SpaceX
6
Space Shuttle
184 ft
NASA 1981
Indian Express InfoGenIE
Largest/tallest rockets in history
Space Shuttle: The Space Shuttle, officially known as the Space Transportation System, was commissioned by the NASA in 1981. It stood 184 feet tall. It was also involved in the construction of the International Space Station (ISS). The Space Shuttle comprised an Orbiter Vehicle, three Rocketdyne RS-25 main engines, and two solid rocket boosters.
Space Shuttle Discovery during launch in 2006 (left); Space Shuttle Atlantis pictured from the ISS (Photo: Wikimedia Commons)
Falcon Heavy: SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy is a Super Heavy lift rocket, which stands at 230 feet. It has three reusable Falcon 9 nine-engine cores. As many as 27 Merlin engines generate more than 5 million pounds of thrust during liftoff. For context, this is equal to eighteen Boeing-747 aircraft, which is one-third of the Starship’s thrust. Falcon Heavy has a payload capacity of nearly 64 metric tons.
Space Launch System (SLS): Another rocket in the Super Heavy-lift category, the SLS is 322 feet tall. It is the primary launch vehicle for the Artemis Moon landing programme. With a thrust of 8.8 million pounds, it is the most powerful rocket currently operational. Yet, this is only half of the Starship’s 16.7 million pounds thrust.
NASA’s Space Launch System rocket launches with the Orion spacecraft during the Artemis I flight test (Wikimedia Commons).
Russian N1: The N1 (Raketa-nositel or Carrier Rocket) was a super heavy-lift rocket, which was 345 feet high. The N1-L3 rocket was designed to counter the US’s Apollo programme to put a human on the moon. It’s Block A held the record of the most powerful 1st-stage launch for over a decade. However, it never made a successful launch.
A mockup at the Baikonur Cosmodrome (left); N1 imaged by a US satellite (Photo: Wikimedia Commons)
Saturn V: The NASA-developed Saturn V held the record for being the tallest rocket till SpaceX’s Starship programme. It remained in operation for just six years (1967-1973). It was designed as part of the Apollo moon programme. It stood 363 feet tall. It is the only launch vehicle to have carried humans past the Low Earth Orbit (LEO). For context, the International Space Station (ISS) orbits Earth at an altitude of around 400 km in LEO.
The Saturn V during launch with Neil A. Armstrong, Michael Collins and Edwin E. Aldrin in 1969 (left); the F1 engines used in the launch vehicle (Photo: Wikimedia commons).
How does SpaceX Starship compare to these?
The Starship, developed by Elon Musk-owned SpaceX, stands at a staggering height of 403 feet. According to SpaceX, Starship is the world’s most powerful launch vehicle and can carry reusable payloads of 150 tonnes.
Starship itself is the fully reusable and Stage-2 of the Starship rocket system. The entire Starship is powered by 33 Raptor engines, each of which has a thrust capability twice that of the Merlin engine used in Falcon 9.
