SpaceX’s Starship reaches orbit for first time, deploys 26 satellites

SpaceX’s Starship reached Earth orbit for the first time Monday, overcoming an early engine shutdown and deploying 26 Starlink V3 satellites before the company shortened the test flight.

The uncrewed, 124-meter (407-foot) rocket launched from Starbase, Texas, on Starship’s 14th full-scale test flight. One of the upper stage’s six Raptor engines shut down prematurely after separation, briefly putting the orbital attempt in doubt. Flight controllers ultimately continued after determining the engine was no longer needed, and Mission Control announced, “Starship is orbital.”

SpaceX said all 26 satellites were deployed and operating normally. The upgraded spacecraft were intended to join the company’s constellation of roughly 11,000 active internet satellites.

The original plan called for Starship to complete six orbits during a flight lasting about nine to 10 hours, followed by a Pacific splashdown near Chile. About an hour after liftoff, however, SpaceX said it would deorbit the upper stage after approximately three hours and bring it down in a pre-cleared area of the Pacific Ocean. The company did not provide a reason for ending the mission early.

The Super Heavy first-stage booster, which was not scheduled to return to the launch site, performed a simulated landing over water near the Gulf Coast. SpaceX is developing Starship as a fully reusable launch system for satellite deployments and NASA’s Artemis lunar program.