SpaceX has announced on its official mission page that the 14th flight (Flight 14) of its Starship could launch as early as Tuesday, September 22, 2026, pending regulatory approval. The 75-minute launch window will open at 7:15 a.m. Central Time.
The company has stated that this flight is planned to be the first to send Starship into Earth orbit. Previous flight tests deliberately followed a safer suborbital trajectory to ensure public safety and maximize learning. Entering orbit marks the beginning of the next phase of development for "full, rapid reusability."
The upcoming flight is planned to be the first to send Starship into orbit around Earth.
— SpaceX (Starship Flight 14 Mission Page)
The same mission also plans to deploy Starlink V3 satellites for the first time: the payload will include 26 V3 satellites. SpaceX claims that each V3 satellite can add approximately 1 Tbps of capacity to the constellation, totaling about 26 Tbps for this launch, which is roughly 10 times the capacity of a single Falcon 9 launch of V2 mini satellites.
The preliminary orbital mission is expected to reach an altitude of about 275 km, orbiting the Earth about 6 times over nearly 10 hours, with a targeted splashdown in the Pacific Ocean west of Chile. The primary objectives include the first orbital insertion maneuver, deployment of 26 V3 satellites, executing a deorbit burn with a single Raptor engine in space, and controlled reentry. The company emphasized that the orbital burn will only be executed after the flight control team confirms that there is sufficient redundancy in the critical hardware needed for subsequent deorbiting.
For the Super Heavy booster, the main objectives include launch, ascent, stage separation, boostback, and executing a landing burn at an offshore landing site in the Gulf of Mexico. There have been targeted improvements in hardware filtering and software compared to Flight 13. Three satellites have been modified with cameras to scan the heat shield; additionally, two tiles recovered from Ship 40 are planned to be reused on Ship 41, marking the first reuse of tiles on Starship. The live stream will begin approximately 30 minutes before liftoff and can be viewed on the official website and on X @SpaceX; the schedule is still subject to change.