SpaceX successfully launches Starship, reaching Earth orbit for the first time
Washington, September 28 (KUNA) — SpaceX successfully launched its Starship spacecraft on Monday, achieving Earth orbit for the first time in a significant step in the company’s program to develop a fully reusable launch vehicle. Starship lifted off aboard the reusable Super Heavy booster from SpaceX’s launch site in South Texas, shortly before 9 a.m. Eastern Time, on a planned test flight.
SpaceX spokesperson Dan Huett announced during the live mission broadcast that the vehicle initially encountered an issue that cast doubt on whether it had reached orbit, after one of its engines shut down ahead of schedule. However, SpaceX engineers confirmed minutes later that the vehicle remained capable of attempting to restart its main engine and continue its journey to orbit.
Starship, designed to launch SpaceX’s Starlink satellites and transport future NASA missions to the Moon, is expected to complete four orbits around Earth during the 10-hour flight before landing in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Chile.
Reaching orbit is a key benchmark for rockets and spacecraft designed to deliver payloads to space, and it represents a long-awaited milestone for the Starship program. SpaceX founder Elon Musk had previously predicted this achievement would occur in 2022, followed by satellite deployments in 2023.
Since 2023, SpaceX’s 13 previous Starship test flights have been limited to suborbital spaceflights—ascending into space and returning to Earth—despite a development program that has spanned nearly a decade and cost more than $15 billion to date.
As part of this mission, Starship deployed 26 new satellites belonging to the seventh generation of Starlink satellites, which the company says offer improved performance. SpaceX stated that the Super Heavy booster carrying Starship underwent modifications after ice accumulation issues hindered a landing attempt during the previous test flight.
According to a mission summary released by SpaceX, reaching orbit allows the next phase of Starship development to begin, focusing on achieving full and rapid reusability. SpaceX ultimately plans to catch the Starship vehicle using the launch tower’s arms—a feat the company has already achieved with the Super Heavy booster but has not yet implemented with Starship itself, and will not attempt during this flight. (End) R.S.R./H.M.F.
