NewsSpaceX
Starship reaches orbit for the first time on Flight 14
Booster 21 and Ship 41 lifted off at 12:48 UTC on Sep 28, and the ship released all 26 Starlink V3 satellites. An engine problem cut the planned six orbits to a flight of about three hours.
By Mars Progress · Edited by Aleksandar Simov
Published 2 min read
Flight 14 at a glance
- Launch
- Sep 2812:48 UTC from Starbase, Texas
- Orbit
- FirstAll 13 earlier flights were suborbital
- Payload
- 26Starlink V3 satellites released
- Flight time
- About 3 hPlanned: about 9 h 50 min
SpaceX’s Starship reached orbit for the first time on Sep 28, 2026, on its 14th test flight. It lifted off from Starbase, Texas, at 12:48 UTC (7:48 a.m. local time) and released all 26 Starlink V3 satellites it carried.[1]
SpaceX called it “the first orbital Starship flight and the first to deliver meaningful payload to orbit.” Elon Musk posted: “First orbital flight of Starship successful!”[1][2] All 13 earlier flights had followed a suborbital path, coming back down before completing a lap of Earth.[3]
What went wrong
The flight didn’t go fully to plan. One of the ship’s six engines, a Raptor vacuum engine, shut down early on the climb, and the other five burned longer to make up for it. About 25 minutes after launch, a single sea-level engine relit to put the ship into orbit.[1][2]
“Out of an abundance of caution given the engine issue experienced during ascent, the flight control team decided to limit the duration spent on orbit,” SpaceX said. Instead of about six orbits and a splashdown off South America after about 9 hours 50 minutes, the ship made its first deorbit burn and splashed down on target in the North Pacific, north of Hawaii, about 3 hours 8 minutes after launch.[1][3]
The Super Heavy booster also lost one of its 33 engines on the way up. It splashed down in the Gulf about seven minutes after launch, as planned for this flight.[1][2]
Why it matters for Mars
Reaching orbit with a payload is the first step toward the Moon and Mars, but not the last. A Starship heading for Mars has to be refilled with propellant in orbit by other Starships, and SpaceX hasn’t yet moved propellant from one vehicle to another in space.[5]
Mars progress1 of 6 steps done, 2 under way. Only dates that agencies and companies have announced count.How close are we? →What’s next
SpaceX hasn’t announced a date for Flight 15. Space.com reported that provisional planning documents point to no earlier than Oct 19, 2026; SpaceX hasn’t confirmed it. Musk said on Sep 14 that SpaceX may try to catch the ship with the launch tower’s arms on Flight 15 if Flight 14 went well, which no Starship has done yet.[5] Our Starship page will show a countdown once there’s an exact time.
Related
Sources
- SpaceX — Starship Flight 14Primary · checked Oct 2, 2026
- Space.com — SpaceX launches Starship into orbit for 1st timeSecondary · checked Oct 2, 2026
- Spaceflight Now — Starship returns to Earth, rocket splashes down north of Hawaii after three-hour flightSecondary · checked Oct 2, 2026
- AP (via WHEC) — SpaceX’s supersized Starship launches into orbit for the first time but flight ends earlySecondary · checked Oct 2, 2026
- Space.com — Starship just reached orbit for the 1st time. What’s next for the SpaceX megarocket?Secondary · checked Oct 2, 2026