Liftoff! Starship Flight 14 Achieves Successful Orbit!
Liftoff! Starship Flight 14 Achieves Successful Orbit!
On September 28, 2026, SpaceX launched Starship Flight 14. This flight marked the first orbital Starship attempt, and it was a huge success. Lifting off of the pad as the most powerful rocket ever built, with over 80 million Newtons of force (that is over 2x the force of the Saturn V, the rocket of the Apollo program), Starship acheived a nominal ascent profile and only had a single engine cutoff (out of 33) on the Super Heavy booster. Starship was expected to not reach orbit due to an engine outage on the main Starship, but instead, SpaceX engineers decided to push through with an orbital burn and successfully achieved a low Earth orbit, with a perigee (lowest point) of 262km (163mi) and a apogee (highest point) of 275km (171mi).Â
Following confirmation of orbit, Starship launched 26 of its new Starlink V3 satellites, with a wingspan (solar) of 197 feet, about 2/3 of the way across a football field in size. These satellites are now operational and functioning nominally. Following completion of two orbits around the Earth, Starship decided to come back early due to engine concerns and engaged a de-orbit burn to bring the perigee into Earth's atmosphere. Once Starship hit Earth's atmosphere, it endured temperatures of over 2,600 degrees Fahrenheit. It successfully returned to the Pacific Ocean, landing for a water splashdown where recovery efforts continue. This marks a key milestone in America's return to the Moon, and the increasing cargo capability for space missions.