SpaceX launched its Starship rocket from Starbase, Texas, on September 28 at 20:48 Beijing time. This 14th test flight marked the first attempt to place the upper stage of the spacecraft into Earth orbit. The Super Heavy booster B21 successfully completed its splashdown 6 minutes and 50 seconds after liftoff.
During the flight, the Starship S41 experienced a malfunction in one of its vacuum engines. Despite this, the craft reached a 275-kilometer orbit using a single Raptor engine about 25 minutes after launch. The mission was originally scheduled to last 10 hours, but SpaceX ended it early, guiding the ship to a splashdown in the Pacific Ocean after 3 hours in orbit.
This mission achieved a significant milestone as it was the first time Starship reached Earth orbit and successfully deployed 26 Starlink V3 satellites. SpaceX confirmed that the Starlink team established contact with all 26 units. This flight represents the transition of the Starship program from experimental suborbital testing to operational orbital payload deployment.
