+34
SpaceX launched its enormous Starship into orbit for the first time Monday and successfully delivered the most advanced Starlinks yet, but decided to cut short the flight.
SpaceX launched its enormous Starship into orbit for the first time Monday and successfully delivered the most advanced Starlinks yet, but decided to cut short the flight.
Posted: Sep 28, 2026 12:18 PM EDT | Last Updated: 11 minutes agoThe audio version of this article is generated by AI-based technology. Mispronunciations can occur. We are working with our partners to continually review and improve the results. The SpaceX Starship and Super Heavy v3 Booster lift off on its 14th test flight from the SpaceX launch complex in Starbase, Texas, on September 28, 2026.
SpaceX launched its enormous Starship into orbit for the first time Monday and successfully delivered the most advanced Starlink satellites yet, but decided to cut short the flight, splashing down in the Pacific Ocean after just over three hours. The company had been aiming for a 10-hour flight, spanning six full laps around Earth, to prove its readiness for NASA's Artemis moon program.
The spacecraft almost didn't make it to orbit after one of its engines shut down too soon shortly after liftoff. But with everything else working well and the bad engine no longer needed, flight controllers decided after several tense minutes to proceed as planned. NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman congratulated SpaceX on reaching orbit and "managing every step in a safe, responsible and especially inspirational way.
"Founder Elon Musk's showpiece rocket — the biggest and most powerful ever built — carried 26 of the latest and most advanced Starlink satellites to join the 11,000 older models already providing internet service. They popped out of the spacecraft one by one, drawing more cheers from the SpaceX crowds looking on from the launch site at Starbase, Texas. It was Starship's 14th full-scale launch from Texas's southern tip in three years.
The earlier test flights ventured no farther than the Indian Ocean halfway around the world. SpaceX This time, SpaceX was intent on circling the globe from an altitude of 275 kilometres — not just once but six times over almost 10 hours, ending with a Pacific Ocean splashdown near Chile. While Starship achieved the proper orbit zipping along at 28,000 km/h, flight controllers opted to play it safe and bring it back several hours sooner, after just a couple laps.
The first-stage booster was never meant to return to the Starbase launch site either, instead dropping into the Gulf of Mexico within minutes of the morning liftoff. SpaceX wants to ensure that everything works before flying Starship back to Starbase and catching the spacecraft. If it breaks apart over land and rains debris onto people, "our popularity would diminish very rapidly," Musk said at a business summit earlier this month.
"That's why we're being extremely cautious here. "WATCH | Video shows fiery, falling debris after SpaceX rocket breaks up in Jan. 2025:Social media video recorded in Turks and Caicos shows debris streaking across the sky after the new Starship rocket broke up during a test flight. Depending on the findings from Monday's orbital debut, the next Starship could return to the launch pad with giant mechanical arms grabbing the hovering spacecraft.
If the catch works — Musk gives it even or slightly better odds — then SpaceX will refly the spacecraft by year's end or early next year. The 124-metre rocket was designed from the start to be fully reusable — a key to lowering launch costs. SpaceX managed to salvage the last Starship from the Indian Ocean in July.
Engineers modified the newly launched Starship's heat shield based on hands-on inspections from the recovered spacecraft, which is being tugged back to Starbase. SpaceX is pressing hard to certify Starship for orbital flight, a vital step toward moon and Mars travel. NASA's Artemis III mission is coming up as soon as next summer, a triple-launch docking exercise in orbit around Earth between an Orion capsule full of astronauts and competing lunar landers.
Jeff Bezos's Blue Moon will blast off first, then Orion — which will close in for a linkup — then Musk's Starship for a docking with Orion once Blue Moon is unleashed. The following mission — Artemis IV, slated for no sooner than 2028 — would have astronauts landing on the moon in either Blue Moon or Starship, whichever is ready first. Subsequent moonshots will alternate between the two billionaires' landers.
Musk originally developed Starship for Mars, intending to launch scores of them with the red planet's first settlers. For now, he plans to focus on the moon and use Starship to haul satellites into orbit by the truckload, phasing out the company's frailer Falcon 9 rocket within several years. A second Starship launch site is nearing completion at Florida's Kennedy Space Center and a third is planned for Louisiana.
Canada Latest News, Canada Headlines
Similar News: You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
SpaceX Starship Completes Wet Dress Rehearsal, Targets Orbital Flight on MondaySpaceX has successfully completed a wet dress rehearsal for its next Starship launch, confirming that the rocket is ready to fly. Flight 14 is scheduled for Monday, September 28, and will be the first time the Starship vehicle attempts to reach orbit. The mission will test the spacecraft's ability to deploy satellites and perform a controlled return to Earth.
Read more »
SpaceX launches Starship into orbit for the first time with 26 Starlink satellitesSpaceX launched Starship into orbit on Monday, September 28, 2026, carrying 26 Starlink satellites as it seeks to demonstrate readiness for NASA's Artemis program. An engine shut down early, but flight controllers continued the mission, which was planned to circle Earth six times before a Pacific splashdown.
Read more »
SpaceX Starship Reaches Orbit for First Time on 14th Test FlightSpaceX launched its giant Starship into orbit for the first time Monday, carrying 26 Starlink satellites on a nearly 10-hour flight aimed at proving readiness for NASA's Artemis moon program.
Read more »
SpaceX Starship Reaches Orbit for First Time, Delivers Starlinks, Then Splashes DownSpaceX launched Starship into orbit for the first time, delivered 26 advanced Starlink satellites, then cut the flight short for safety. The spacecraft re-entered over the Pacific and splashed down north of Hawaii, tipping over and erupting in flames.
Read more »