Musk says future Starship flights will push 50 terabits per second to orbit

Elon Musk says future Starship flights will be able to haul more than 50 terabits per second worth of Starlink bandwidth to orbit. The SpaceX CEO dropped the number on Saturday, framing it as the next step for a rocket that has already been stacking up capacity. SpaceX previously said the latest Starship mission deployed an extra 26 terabits of Starlink capacity through its V3 satellites.

Musk also gave the ship a passing grade as it circles Earth, saying the condition of the vehicle and its heatshield is, so far, so good. The catch attempt was another story. The Super Heavy booster failed to make it back to SpaceX's South Texas launch tower, Mechazilla, and was redirected to splash down in the Gulf of Mexico instead.

The flight was Starship's 15th test mission, lifting off from Orbital Launch Pad 2 at Starbase in Texas with Booster 22 and the Ship 42 spacecraft. The plan called for bringing both halves of the rocket back to the launch site for a catch while deploying 26 Starlink V3 satellites. Fox News reported that Booster 22 exploded after separation and never reached its return tower.