Starship reaches orbit for the first time: Flight 14 deploys 26 Starlink V3 satellites despite an engine failure

SpaceX's Starship reached orbit for the first time on September 28, on its 14th test flight, Space.com reports. It lifted off at 8:48 a.m. EDT from Starbase, Texas; it was the third flight of the V3 version.

One of the ship's six engines failed during ascent, but the ship reached orbit about 25 minutes after liftoff and deployed 26 Starlink V3 satellites over half an hour. SpaceX says that is about ten times the capacity of one Falcon 9 launch, and future flights can carry up to 60 satellites. The booster made a controlled splashdown in the Gulf of Mexico, while the ship was brought down early, after just under two orbits, north of Hawaii.

What is still missing

"First orbital flight of Starship successful!" Elon Musk wrote. Catching the ship with the tower and transferring propellant in orbit, both key to lunar missions, are still to come; Musk puts the odds of a first successful ship catch at 50 to 60 percent.