SpaceX is preparing for a major milestone today as its Starship-Super Heavy rocket is set to attempt reaching Earth orbit for the first time.
The company is targeting September 28 for Flight 14 from its Starbase facility in South Texas. The Federal Aviation Administration has cleared the mission, and the launch window is scheduled to open at 7:15 a.m. Central Time and run for 75 minutes.
First Orbital Attempt After 13 Test Flights
The upcoming mission will be the 14th flight test of the integrated Starship-Super Heavy system. All 13 previous flights followed suborbital trajectories, meaning the spacecraft reached space but did not complete a full orbit around Earth.
This flight is designed to take Starship into orbit and test how the vehicle performs during a much longer mission.
SpaceX is targeting an approximately 10-hour flight, during which the upper stage is expected to travel about 275 kilometres above Earth and complete roughly six orbits before splashing down in the Pacific Ocean west of Chile.
Starship Will Deploy 26 Starlink Satellites
One of the most important objectives is the deployment of 26 next-generation Starlink V3 satellites.
The mission will give SpaceX a chance to test Starship as a launch vehicle for operational satellite deployments rather than using the flight solely as a demonstration. The company has been developing Starship as a fully reusable system capable of eventually carrying large payloads into orbit.
The satellites are expected to be released while Starship is in orbit before the spacecraft begins its return journey.
Booster Will Test New Flight Procedures
The Super Heavy booster will also have several objectives during the mission, including liftoff, stage separation, boostback and its controlled splashdown.
Unlike SpaceX's Falcon 9 system, which routinely lands its boosters, this Starship test is expected to end with both stages splashing down in the ocean. The company is continuing to work toward future missions in which both the booster and spacecraft can be recovered and reused.
Why the Mission Matters
Reaching orbit would represent an important step in SpaceX's effort to make Starship a high-capacity reusable launch system.
The vehicle is being developed for a range of future missions, including the delivery of large satellite networks and NASA's plans for human lunar exploration. A successful orbital test would provide additional flight data on the vehicle's engines, heat shield, separation systems and long-duration operations.
At the same time, the mission remains a test flight, and SpaceX has not suggested that every part of the flight must succeed for the test to provide useful data.
A Key Moment for SpaceX's Starship Program
The September 28 mission comes after SpaceX completed a launch rehearsal and stacked the Starship vehicle and Super Heavy booster at Starbase. The FAA's approval has now cleared the way for the orbital attempt.
For SpaceX, the immediate goal is straightforward: send Starship around Earth, deploy the 26 Starlink satellites and gather the flight data needed for the next stage of development.
If the vehicle completes the planned trajectory, it would mark the first time Starship has reached Earth orbit after more than a dozen test flights.
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