SpaceX's Starship Reaches Orbit for the First Time, Then Returns Early
SpaceX’s Starship reached orbit for the first time on Monday, on its 14th test flight. The rocket lifted off from Starbase, Texas, at 7:48 am local time and entered orbit about 25 minutes later. It then released 26 Starlink V3 satellites.
An engine failure nearly stopped the attempt, and SpaceX cut the flight short. One of the six engines on the upper stage shut down during the climb. Despite initial plans to abort the orbit attempt, mission control announced " Starship is orbital ".
The Starship released all 26 satellites, with the Starlink team confirming contact with each one. Each V3 satellite adds 1 terabit per second of capacity, contributing to a significant boost in overall capacity compared to older satellite launches.
Initially planned for six orbits at approximately 275km, SpaceX decided to bring the Starship down early after three hours in orbit due to engine problems, according to The New York Times. The Super Heavy booster made a simulated landing in the Gulf of Mexico as expected.
"Gorgeous launch, getting Ship to orbit and managing every step in a safe, responsible, and especially inspirational way," wrote NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman on X.
NASA plans to utilize a version of Starship for lunar missions under its Artemis program.
More launches are scheduled this week, with Google set to launch its first AI chips into orbit on October 1st on a Falcon 9 rideshare. India’s TakeMe2Space will also launch an AI computing satellite on the same day using a SpaceX rocket.