SpaceX’s latest Starship test flight reached Earth orbit for the first time and deployed 26 Starlink V3 satellites, marking a major step in the company’s effort to move the giant rocket beyond suborbital testing.
SpaceX posted that all 26 Starlink V3 satellites were in orbit after deployment. Axios also reported that the mission carried 26 of the company’s newer Starlink V3 internet satellites on the flight, which launched from South Texas just before 9 a.m. ET on Monday (Axios).
The company had also posted earlier that Starship performed its orbital insertion burn and entered Earth orbit, a milestone after previous flight tests had stayed on suborbital paths.
Planned long-duration test profile
According to Axios, the flight was planned to last about 10 hours. The profile called for Starship to orbit Earth roughly six times before splashing down in the Pacific Ocean west of Chile (Axios).
That longer mission plan reflects a different phase of Starship testing. Axios quoted SpaceX’s mission summary as saying earlier flights had intentionally used passively safe suborbital trajectories, and that going to orbit would open the next phase of developing Starship to be fully and rapidly reusable (Axios).
Booster splashdown after earlier icing problems
SpaceX said Starship’s first-stage Super Heavy booster splashed down in the Gulf of America shortly after launch, while the upper stage continued on its orbital mission (Axios).
That booster had been modified after icing issues disrupted the previous test. Axios reported that SpaceX said ice clogging had interfered with a Super Heavy splashdown attempt on the last flight, prompting changes ahead of this mission (Axios).
Starship is central to SpaceX’s long-term plans for a fully reusable launch system, and NASA is also counting on a modified version of the vehicle for its Artemis lunar program, as Axios noted in its report.
