SpaceX develops Starship with an explicit "hardware-rich," iterative method: build fast, fly, learn from failures, and fly again — gathering real flight data far faster than years of ground analysis. By that standard the program is advancing rapidly. It has flown a dozen integrated tests, demonstrated engine performance, staging and re-entry, and in October 2024 caught its returning Super Heavy booster with the launch tower on the first attempt — a world first. NASA is confident enough to make Starship its Artemis lunar lander, backed by billions in contracts. The honest caveat: the program is behind Musk's optimistic timelines, and some 2025 flights failed. But "behind schedule" is very different from "failure" — every major reusable-rocket milestone in history now belongs to this program.