Elon Musk’s SpaceX team erupted into loud cheers upon the successful splashdown of Starship Flight 13 ship in the Indian Ocean following a smooth flight on Friday (US time). The world’s largest rocket’s critical test flight was scheduled for July 24 at 6:45 pm EDT from Starbase, Texas, after an initial countdown was scrubbed last minute over a week ago. Yet another test flight planned for Thursday was delayed “due to weather.”

Videos capturing the spectacular “landing” of the Starship V3 have since gone viral on social media. The space giant’s CEO Elon Musk joined in on the massive celebrations online, confirming on X, “Starship is intact, floating in the ocean and transmitting telemetry!”

Meanwhile, SpaceX’s Dan Huot’s live commentary at the time affirmed, “This is just the first time we’ve put a Starship into the water.” Calling it SpaceX’s “softest splashdown” ever, he hailed the latest test flight launch as “Lucky number 13,” as it was the 13th integrated test flight of a Starship spacecraft and Super Heavy rocket booster.

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“This is a dream scenario for this team that’s trying to get this heat shield data,” Huot exclaimed.

18 minutes into the test flight on Friday, SpaceX deployed 20 of its new Starlink V3 satellites into orbit. Produced at a SpaceX facility in Redmond, Washington, the satellites were meant to burn up after about 20 minutes. Through social media, SpaceX confirmed that the company could make contact with all 20 satellites linked to the mission.

Friday’s landmark launch marks the aerospace contractor’s first such massive test flight since the stock market debut in June, which ultimately turned founder Elon Musk’s into the world’s first trillionaire.

As SpaceX is feeling pressure to prepare Starship for a crucial NASA test flight next year, NASA administrator Jared Isaacman cheered the mission on with a nod to the Starship’s lunar mission.

“Pretty clear from this shot that @SpaceX knows where we are going! Congrats on getting Flight 13 underway. Excited for what will be learned from this mission. When Starship comes online, its capabilities will be game-changing, not least of which will be ensuring we never give up the Moon again!” he wrote on X.