SpaceX attempts first orbital flight of Starship, aims to deploy 26 Starlink satellites

SpaceX lifted off its Starship launch system at 8:50 a.m. ET from the Starbase facility in Cameron County, Texas, after a brief delay from the originally scheduled time. The vehicle, consisting of the Starship spacecraft atop the Super Heavy booster, began a 75-minute launch window aimed at achieving orbit on its 14th test flight.

The mission plan calls for the booster to separate and execute a boost-back burn before returning to Earth and splashing down in the Gulf of Mexico. The spacecraft will follow a passively safe sub-orbital trajectory that allows an early abort and ocean splash-down over the Indian Ocean if needed.

Assuming the vehicle remains nominal, a circularization burn about 25 minutes after liftoff will place Starship into low-Earth orbit at roughly 17,500 mph. Approximately 34 minutes into the flight, Starship is scheduled to deploy a payload of 26 Starlink V3 satellites, marking the first operational deployment of this generation.

The flight is expected to last just under ten hours, completing about six orbits before a deorbit burn and a Pacific Ocean splash-down west of Chile. Throughout the mission, more than 500 onboard sensors will transmit telemetry to flight controllers, enabling continuous health monitoring and the option to terminate the flight early if anomalies arise.