Elon Musk's SpaceX achieved a major milestone on Monday, September 28, with its Starship rocket successfully reaching orbit for the first time. This 14th test flight also saw the deployment of 26 new Starlink V3 satellites, critical for scaling SpaceX's profitable Starlink business. The company, which operates about 11,000 active satellites, aims for Starlink to eventually provide a majority of the world's internet.
The Federal Aviation Administration authorized the launch and reentry operations on September 26. The 124-meter (407-foot) Starship, designed for full reusability, is intended to lift more cargo for less cost into orbit than previous spacecraft. SpaceX is valued at about $2 trillion following its June IPO, the largest on record.
Starship's success is crucial for SpaceX's long-term ambitions, including sending astronauts to the moon and Mars. It is also a key component of NASA's Artemis program, with a version of Starship selected as a Human Landing System for Artemis III in 2027 and Artemis IV in 2028. While Starship HLS has faced some delays, this orbital success adds credibility to NASA's lunar plans. The spacecraft reached an altitude of roughly 275 kilometers and was expected to complete about six orbits of Earth during its nearly 10-hour mission, concluding with a controlled splashdown in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Chile. SpaceX engineers incorporated insights from a recovered Starship from a previous July test flight to modify the heat shield for this mission.
