A look back at SpaceX's 13 Starship test flights

SpaceX has now conducted 13 test flights of its Starship rocket system, the vehicle the company is developing for missions to the Moon and, eventually, Mars, according to a BBC News video report presented by Ricky Boleto.

The report traces the programme's trajectory across its test campaign, from early flights that ended in dramatic explosions during ascent or landing attempts, to later missions that achieved longer stretches of controlled flight. Starship is designed to be fully reusable, with both its Super Heavy booster and upper stage intended to be recovered and flown again, a goal that has shaped SpaceX's approach of testing full-scale hardware in flight rather than relying solely on ground simulations.

The BBC video does not provide a detailed breakdown of each individual flight's outcome, but frames the 13-flight history as illustrative of SpaceX's iterative testing philosophy, in which failures are treated as sources of engineering data rather than programme setbacks.

Starship is central to SpaceX's ambitions and to NASA's Artemis programme, under which a version of the vehicle is contracted to land astronauts on the Moon. The pace and outcome of ongoing test flights are widely watched as an indicator of how close the vehicle is to being ready for crewed or high-value missions.

The BBC report does not specify the date of the most recent test flight or preview when a 14th flight might take place.