SpaceX’s giant Starship rocket reached Earth orbit for the first time on Monday, a milestone the company has been working towards through years of test flights. Launched from Starbase in South Texas, the upper stage deployed 26 third-generation Starlink satellites before SpaceX brought it back early.
An engine loss, then a decision to press on
The launch went smoothly until shortly after stage separation, when the Ship lost one of its six Raptor engines. SpaceX briefly called off the orbital attempt, then decided within minutes to continue, since the vehicle could still reach orbit on its remaining engines. SpaceX Starship reached orbit and released all 26 Starlink V3 satellites, and the company said it was able to contact each of them.
The plan had been for the Ship to circle Earth six times over about nine hours. Instead, roughly 90 minutes into the flight, SpaceX said it would deorbit the vehicle early to a pre-cleared area of the Pacific Ocean.
Why the flight matters
Reaching orbit opens the door to commercial missions and is a step towards SpaceX’s goal of a fully reusable heavy-lift rocket. Starship is central to NASA’s plans to return astronauts to the Moon. SpaceX says one Starship launch of V3 satellites adds as much Starlink capacity as about 20 Falcon 9 flights of the older V2 mini satellites.
Booster progress
The Super Heavy booster returned towards the Gulf coast and performed a simulated landing over water, which the company described as its cleanest yet for the V3 design, first flown in May. This was the third V3 test flight. For tech readers following AI and platform shifts, see our recent report on Google’s Gemini shopping test in India. A detailed flight account is available from TechCrunch.
Today’s News 28 Sep 2026 · 10 stories
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