SpaceX has achieved a major milestone with Starship, sending the massive rocket into Earth orbit for the first time and successfully deploying its first batch of Starlink V3 satellites.
Starship lifted off from Pad 2 at Starbase, Texas, early Monday morning on its 14th integrated test flight. The mission used Booster 21 and Ship 41, with Super Heavy separating through the now-familiar hot-staging manoeuvre before beginning its return toward the Gulf.
Just minutes later, SpaceX confirmed the booster had successfully splashed down in the Gulf of America.
Super Heavy has splashed down in the Gulf of America! pic.twitter.com/pEIjC2Aae1
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) September 28, 2026
The upper stage continued climbing, although the flight wasn’t completely trouble-free. One of Starship’s six Raptor engines shut down during ascent, prompting SpaceX to initially place the vehicle on what it described as a “passively safe suborbital trajectory” while teams evaluated its condition.
After reviewing the data, flight controllers gave the mission the green light to continue. “Go for orbit! Starship will soon perform a burn with a single Raptor engine to enter an ~275 km orbit of Earth,” SpaceX announced.
That burn was successful, marking the first time Starship had entered Earth orbit.
SpaceX then moved on to another important first for the program – deploying an operational payload. Ship 41 released 26 Starlink V3 satellites over roughly 30 minutes, with SpaceX confirming shortly afterward that its Starlink team had established contact with all 26.
Payload deploy complete. All 26 @Starlink V3 satellites are in orbit pic.twitter.com/foUrHHvxcc
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) September 28, 2026
The new V3 satellites are larger and more capable than previous Starlink generations. SpaceX has said a fully loaded Starship could eventually carry 60 V3 satellites, providing roughly 20 times the network capacity added by a typical Falcon 9 launch carrying V2 Mini satellites.
The mission was originally expected to keep Starship in orbit for several more hours. However, SpaceX later said it would deorbit the spacecraft after about three hours, targeting a pre-cleared area of the Pacific Ocean.
At the time of writing, Starship was preparing for its deorbit burn, with the outcome of its reentry and splashdown not yet confirmed.
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