Starship Orbit

SpaceX put Starship into orbit for the first time Monday, its 14th test flight from Starbase in Texas, NPR and CNBC reported.

Booster 21 fired all 33 engines at 7:48 a.m. local time. Starship separated about two and a half minutes later, NPR reported. One of the ship's six engines failed during ascent. Mission managers weighed whether to press on. About 22 minutes into the flight, they cleared Starship for orbit, according to NPR. CNBC put the moment the spacecraft reached orbit at around 8:15 a.m. local time, as SpaceX employees at the launch site cheered. Starship deployed 26 new Starlink V3 satellites along the way, both outlets reported.

The booster skipped its usual catch at the launch tower. It splashed down offshore instead, a test of software and hardware upgrades, NPR reported. SpaceX had planned a 10-hour flight with six orbits at roughly 170 miles up. Mission managers cut it to about three hours, according to NPR. The company plans to splash Starship down in the Pacific Ocean.

Money is riding on Starship's success. It's the only vehicle that can launch the larger Starlink V3 satellites, and Starlink is SpaceX's only profitable business line, CNBC reported. SpaceX went public in June in the largest IPO on record and is now valued at about $2 trillion, according to CNBC. NASA has also hired the company to build a Starship variant that will land astronauts on the moon during the Artemis III mission, targeted for late next year, NPR reported.

One hurdle remains largely untested: refueling Starship in orbit. Spacecraft have transferred propellant since a Soviet Progress capsule first did it in 1978, but no one has moved the huge volumes of supercold methane and oxygen that a Mars-bound Starship would need, Space Daily reported. A NASA inspector general report from March 2026 called that transfer one of the most significant technical challenges facing the Starship lunar lander program, Space Daily reported.

Louisiana is next. SpaceX plans a $100 billion Starship facility there, with launches targeted to begin in 2029, NPR reported.