SpaceX Starship reaches orbit for the first time and deploys 26 Starlink V3 satellites

The world's largest and most powerful launch vehicle, SpaceX's Starship, has reached orbit for the first time and deployed 26 high-performance Starlink V3 internet satellites. The uncrewed Starship Flight 14 lifted off at 7:46 a.m. Central Time on Monday, September 28, from the company's Starbase launch site in Texas. The historic launch marked the vehicle's 14th integrated flight test and was the first aimed at sending the vehicle into orbit around the Earth.

The 407-foot (124-metre) rocket comprises a Super Heavy booster and a Starship upper stage. If the mission proceeds as planned, Starship will complete approximately six orbits around the Earth during a nearly 10-hour flight, the longest mission it has flown to date. The vehicle will then splash down in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of western Chile.

Starship's first operational satellite deployment

The flight also marked Starship's first deployment of operational satellites into space. In an update posted on the social media platform X, SpaceX stated: "Payload deployment complete. All 26 Starlink V3 satellites have reached orbit." The Flight 14 mission deployed 26 Starlink V3 satellites, the first operational satellite deployment ever conducted by Starship. Each satellite is designed to add 1 Tbps of capacity to the company's internet network.

Combined, the 26 satellites add a total of 26 Tbps of capacity, roughly 10 times the capacity of a single Falcon 9 launch carrying V2 Mini Starlink satellites. The satellites will then deploy their antennas and solar panels and make initial contact with ground stations and other Starlink constellation nodes via radio frequency and laser links.

The satellites will subsequently use their onboard propulsion to raise their orbits and undergo checkouts before beginning to provide service. SpaceX representatives said: "After their on-orbit checkouts, the satellites are expected to begin serving customers within a few weeks of launch." In addition, SpaceX equipped three satellites with cameras to inspect Starship's condition and capture images of its thermal protection system following deployment. These images will help the team better study the state of Starship's thermal protection system as SpaceX works toward eventually returning the spacecraft directly to its launch site.

All 13 prior Starship flights since 2023 were suborbital. Flight 14 was designed to put the spacecraft into orbit for the first time. Starship is expected to fly at an altitude of approximately 171 miles (275 kilometres). However, the spacecraft will perform its orbital insertion burn only after flight controllers confirm that its systems have sufficient redundancy to carry out the subsequent deorbit burn. At the end of the mission, it will ignite a Raptor engine in space to drop out of orbit, then perform a controlled reentry and landing.

Engine and thermal protection system improvements

Flight 14 also incorporated adjustments following earlier tests. During Starship's Flight 13, Super Heavy used all 33 of its engines for the boost burn for the first time. However, ice then clogged three of the centre engines, ending that operation prematurely. In response, the company improved hardware to enhance engine filtration systems and made software adjustments to increase the reliability of reignition. SpaceX is also testing several upgrades to Starship's thermal protection system, including additional mechanisms for keeping tiles attached and curved tile designs intended to reduce heating between tiles.

Two thermal protection tiles from Ship 40 were reused on Ship 41, the first time Starship has reused thermal protection tiles.