SpaceX Starship Flight 14 has put the world’s largest rocket into low-Earth orbit for the first time in the program’s history. Liftoff came from Starbase in Boca Chica, Texas, on Monday, September 28, 2026, and all 26 Starlink V3 satellites on board have since been deployed. The mission is still under way, with the ship’s controlled splashdown in the Pacific yet to come.
Liftoff and orbit: what has been confirmed
The 407-foot (124-metre) Starship-Super Heavy stack left the pad at 8:48 a.m. EDT (12:48 UTC, 6:18 p.m. IST), according to Florida Today’s launch-day live blog. It is the 14th integrated flight of the vehicle, and each of the previous 13 flew an intentionally sub-orbital trajectory.
About 25 minutes after liftoff, Ship 41 relit one of its three sea-level Raptor engines to raise and circularize its path, a sequence tracked in detail by Spaceflight Now’s Flight 14 live coverage. SpaceX announced that “Starship has ascended into low-Earth orbit after a brief burn by a single Raptor engine.” Orbit is now a confirmed milestone, not a plan.
Booster B21 and Ship S41: no recovery attempted
The flight used Super Heavy booster B21 and Starship upper stage S41, as detailed in this Flight 14 overview. SpaceX did not try to recover either stage on this flight. The booster made a “soft splashdown” in the gulf near Starbase.
26 Starlink V3 satellites deployed
The payload was 26 next-generation Starlink V3 satellites on a mission dubbed Starlink 31-1. SpaceX’s webcast confirmed that all 26 deployed through the ship’s cargo door, and the company reported contact with all 26 in orbit. Together with the orbital insertion, this is the part of the mission that can be called a success.
Three of the satellites carry extra cameras. They are meant to scan Starship’s heat shield and transmit imagery, testing methods of judging heat-shield readiness for future return-to-launch-site missions.
Why the Starlink V3 numbers matter
SpaceX says each Starlink V3 satellite adds 1 Tbps of capacity, which would make 26 Tbps for this mission. The company says that is roughly ten times the capacity of a single Falcon 9 launch of V2 mini Starlink satellites.
Starship is designed to be fully reusable to reduce launch costs, and carrying next-generation Starlink satellites is central to both the commercial and engineering case for the vehicle.
The rest of the flight: splashdown still pending
The mission profile calls for roughly six orbits at about 275 km (171 miles) altitude over about 10 hours. Starship is planned to fire its engine for about 11 seconds roughly 8 hours and 52 minutes after liftoff. A controlled splashdown in the Pacific Ocean west of Chile is expected about an hour after that, around 4 a.m. IST on September 29.
The deorbit burn, reentry and splashdown have not yet happened at the time of writing, so the flight cannot be judged fully successful until then.
NASA and Artemis: the lunar stakes
NASA is watching closely because Starship is being developed as a lunar lander for the Artemis program. The orbital test is a key step toward qualifying the vehicle for Moon and Mars missions. In a message quoted in Florida Today’s launch-day live blog, NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman wrote: “Congrats @SpaceX! Gorgeous launch, getting Ship to orbit and managing every step in a safe, responsible, and especially inspirational way. @NASA, along with the rest of the interested public, is excited to help where we can and for Starship missions to become routine!”
Elon Musk also posted about Starship’s first successful orbital flight on X after the launch.
As Mathrubhumi reports, with inputs from AP, Artemis III could launch as early as next summer. It would involve a series of launches and an orbital docking with an Orion spacecraft carrying astronauts, alongside competing lunar landers. Blue Origin’s Blue Moon lander would launch first, then Orion, and then Starship would dock with Orion. Artemis IV, no earlier than 2028, would attempt an astronaut lunar landing using either Blue Moon or Starship, depending on readiness.
SpaceX is not the only company with a stake in that timeline. Elsewhere in space and AI, Google’s Project Suncatcher, an AI-in-space effort set to launch on a SpaceX rideshare, shows how commercial launch capacity is becoming central to frontier tech. It was one of several such stories this week, alongside our report on AI safety and the UN Security Council.
Conclusion: what to watch next
Starship has reached orbit and deployed all 26 Starlink V3 satellites, but the mission is not over until the ship splashes down west of Chile. Depending on this flight’s outcome, SpaceX may attempt to catch the Starship upper stage with giant mechanical arms at Starbase on Flight 15. What to watch next: the deorbit burn, the splashdown result, the heat-shield imagery from the three camera-equipped satellites, and whether SpaceX confirms a catch attempt on Flight 15.
