SpaceX has sent Starship into Earth orbit for the first time, marking a major milestone for the company’s reusable mega-rocket program. The spacecraft also deployed 26 third-generation Starlink satellites during the flight, despite losing one of its six Raptor engines shortly after stage separation.
The Starship Flight 14 mission launched from South Texas on Monday and completed the early stages of flight as planned. After the upper stage separated from the Super Heavy booster, however, one Raptor engine shut down.
SpaceX initially called off the attempt to enter orbit, then decided several minutes later to continue. Starship ultimately reached orbit and successfully released all 26 Starlink V3 satellites.
Mission Ends Earlier Than Planned
SpaceX had planned for the upper stage to orbit Earth six times over roughly nine hours. About 90 minutes into the flight, the company instead decided to return Starship early and said it would deorbit the spacecraft into a pre-cleared area of the Pacific Ocean after about three hours in orbit.
The company had also planned to use the mission to deploy 26 V3 Starlink satellites, all of which were released and contacted successfully. SpaceX said the satellites are expected to begin serving Starlink customers within the next few weeks.
The newer satellites offer more capacity than earlier versions used to build SpaceX’s constellation of roughly 10,000 satellites. The company has said one full Starship launch carrying V3 satellites could add the same network capacity as 20 Falcon 9 launches carrying V2 Mini satellites.
Super Heavy Completes Simulated Landing
The Super Heavy booster also returned toward the Gulf Coast after separating from Starship and completed a simulated landing over the water. It was the cleanest simulated landing yet for the V3 version of Starship, which SpaceX began flight-testing in May.
The flight was the third test of Starship V3, with the launches occurring roughly two months apart. Starship reaching orbit is important to SpaceX’s plans to use the vehicle for commercial missions, NASA lunar flights, and a fully reusable launch system.
CEO Elon Musk has said he eventually wants Starship to fly thousands of times each year. SpaceX has also announced plans for another Starbase launch complex in Louisiana, where the company says it intends to invest $100 billion, with construction expected to begin next year.
Featured image credits: Wikimedia Commons
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