SpaceX sets date for Starship’s first orbital mission with Starlink payload
The flight aims to reach orbit and deploy 26 new Starlink V3 satellites into active service.
SpaceX plans Starship Flight 14 as its first orbital test mission, now targeting September 28, 2026, pending regulatory approval. The launch from Texas has a 75‑minute window starting at 8:15 a.m. Eastern (7:15 a.m. local), and the Super Heavy booster is planned to splash down in the Gulf of Mexico a few minutes after liftoff. The Starship upper stage is intended to reach an orbit about 275 km (171 miles) high, circle Earth six times over roughly 10 hours, and then end the mission. On this flight Starship will deploy 26 Starlink V3 satellites, the first time these higher‑capacity V3 spacecraft are added to the operational constellation. SpaceX describes this orbital phase as a progression from earlier suborbital tests toward making Starship reusable for future missions.
Why it matters
This launch moves Starship from suborbital experiments toward acting as an operational launcher, with the vehicle aiming for multiple Earth orbits over about 10 hours while deploying 26 Starlink V3 satellites directly into the working broadband constellation. That makes the mission a test of both Starship’s ability to complete an orbital profile and its role in expanding Starlink’s capacity for customer service at the same time, rather than a purely experimental flight.