SpaceX conducted the 14th test flight of its Starship system on September 28, 2026, from the Starbase facility in Texas. During this mission, the upper stage successfully reached low Earth orbit for the first time, even though one Raptor engine shut down prematurely.
The mission marked the first operational deployment of payload for the Starship program. The vehicle carried 26 Starlink V3 satellites into orbit, and communication with all units was established successfully after deployment.
According to Starlink, the new satellite batch will increase the network's total capacity by up to 26 Tbps. Each individual Starlink V3 satellite is designed to provide up to 1 Tbps of downlink capacity and 160 Gbps of uplink capacity.
Following the payload delivery, the Starship vehicle performed an early deorbit maneuver and splashed down in the Pacific Ocean. SpaceX intends to utilize the data collected during this flight to advance the development of its reusable launch system for future lunar and Mars missions.
