Plate Nº 11 · recorded September 29, 2026
Space & AstronomyReported finding
Starship Reaches Orbit for the First Time and Deploys 26 Starlink Satellites
SpaceX's Starship flew to orbit for the first time, releasing 26 Starlink V3 satellites despite two engine shutdowns before a Pacific splashdown.
By Elena Vasquez4 min read820 words
In brief
- Starship flew to orbit for the first time on its 14th test flight, completing nearly two orbits.
- The rocket deployed 26 Starlink V3 satellites at 160 miles (270 km) altitude despite two engine shutdowns.
- Each V3 satellite supports about 1 terabit per second of download capacity—roughly 10 times SpaceX's current satellites.
SpaceX's Starship rocket has flown to orbit for the first time, deploying 26 next-generation Starlink satellites before splashing down in the Pacific Ocean. The flight, which lifted off from the company's Starbase complex on the Texas coast, marks a turning point for a test program that had previously flown only suborbital missions.
The 407-foot (124-meter) rocket rose from its launch pad at 7:50 a.m. CT (12:50 p.m. UTC) and completed nearly two orbits of Earth. This was the 14th flight in the Starship test program, but all 13 previous flights stayed below orbital velocity.
The mission did not go entirely to plan. One of the 33 methane-fueled Raptor engines on Starship's Super Heavy booster shut down prematurely during ascent. Despite that single engine failure, the climb to space proceeded as planned, and the booster executed a safe splashdown in the Gulf of Mexico.
A rougher decision came later. One of the six engines on the upper stage—known simply as Ship—also shut down early. For a few minutes, SpaceX's team debated whether to proceed with the orbital insertion burn or end the test flight without deploying satellites. They chose to continue, and the 19-second burn went smoothly.
"Starship is orbital," Mission Control declared, drawing cheers from SpaceX employees watching the live video feed.
A Pez dispenser in orbit
During the mission's key orbital phase, Starship's satellite deployer worked, in SpaceX's own comparison, like a giant Pez dispenser—pushing out 26 Starlink V3 satellites one after another at an altitude of 160 miles (270 kilometers).
SpaceX had deployed V3 satellites before, during a flight test in July, but that rocket never reached orbit. Those earlier satellites re-entered the atmosphere and burned up after completing a series of tests. This time, the satellites stayed in space.
The V3 satellites are heavier than the current V2 Mini models and carry substantially more capability. They are designed to enable data download speeds of roughly 1 terabit per second—about 10 times the capacity of SpaceX's existing constellation of more than 11,000 satellites. That additional bandwidth matters for SpaceX's plans to expand direct-to-device services, which beam signals straight to ordinary phones rather than dedicated dishes.
To take full advantage of the V3 design, SpaceX intends to shift Starlink launches from its workhorse Falcon 9 rocket to Starship.
"This one flight was like 20 Falcon 9 flights in terms of bandwidth," SpaceX commentator Dan Huot said during the live broadcast.
A shortened mission
The test flight was originally scheduled to last 10 hours. Instead, SpaceX said the flight control team decided to shorten the mission "out of an abundance of caution, given the engine issue experienced during ascent." SpaceX switched from its primary mission profile to a backup plan that sent the upper stage to a Pacific Ocean splashdown north of Hawaii a little more than three hours after launch.
The double splashdown was always part of the plan for this mission. The next flight may look different. SpaceX is reportedly considering having the second stage return directly to its launch pad, where a pair of giant mechanical arms would catch it in midair. There might even be a double-catch, also involving the Super Heavy booster.
SpaceX has built two launch pads for Starship at Starbase in Texas and is developing additional launch facilities in Florida and Louisiana to support what the company hopes will be a dramatic speedup in launch cadence. "Starship is 2 to 3 years away from hourly flights," SpaceX CEO Elon Musk wrote on his X social media platform—a timeline that should be read as an aspirational target rather than a settled engineering schedule.
Bigger plans beyond Starlink
Starship's ambitions extend well beyond satellite internet. SpaceX plans to use the rocket for trips to the moon, Mars and other destinations beyond Earth orbit. Other commercial space ventures are also counting on Starship to lower the cost of reaching space and to boost their own business plans.
NASA has a direct stake as well. Next year, the space agency expects to test a Starship lander—alongside Blue Origin's Blue Moon lander—in Earth orbit during its Artemis 3 mission, in preparation for a crewed lunar landing that could take place in early 2028.
NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman congratulated SpaceX on the flight in a post on X. "Gorgeous launch, getting Ship to orbit and managing every step in a safe, responsible and especially inspirational way," he wrote. "NASA, along with the rest of the interested public, is excited to help where we can and for Starship missions to become routine!"
Two engine anomalies aside, the flight demonstrated the core capability SpaceX has pursued since the Starship program began: reaching orbit with the largest flying rocket ever built and putting working payloads into space on the way.
via Phys.org Space & Astronomy (Source)
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