SpaceX has completed its 14th Starship test flight, marking the first time the upper stage reached Earth orbit. The launch occurred from the Starbase facility in Texas at 15:48 Moscow time. The Super Heavy B21 booster successfully performed a landing maneuver in the Gulf of Mexico approximately 6 minutes and 50 seconds after liftoff.
The Starship S41 upper stage reached an orbital altitude of 275 km about 25 minutes into the flight. During the mission, one of the vacuum Raptor engines failed. Despite the technical issue, the spacecraft successfully deployed 26 Starlink V3 satellites, and the Starlink team confirmed communication with all of the units.
While the flight was originally intended to last 10 hours and include six orbits, SpaceX decided to end the mission early due to the engine failure. After completing two orbits, the S41 was directed to a controlled splashdown in the Pacific Ocean approximately three hours after reaching orbit.
This mission represents a transition from suborbital testing to orbital operations, as all 13 previous flights followed suborbital trajectories. SpaceX considers the 14th test flight a success despite the shortened duration. The company plans to conduct the 15th test flight in three weeks.
