SpaceX aims Starship for first orbital flight
SpaceX plans to launch Starship Flight 14 on Sept. 28 within a 75-minute window starting at 8:15 a.m. EDT, aiming to reach orbit for the first time. Booster 21 will perform a boostback, landing burn and splashdown in the Gulf of Mexico, while Ship 41 may fire vacuum Raptor 3 engines for a brief orbital insertion, deploy 26 Starlink V3 satellites (three with inspection cameras), circle Earth about six times, then deorbit for a Pacific splashdown roughly ten hours after liftoff. Success would advance Starship reusability and Starlink deployment, while unresolved challenges like on-orbit refueling remain.
Flight 14 will attempt Starship's first orbital insertion.
Context
Starship has flown only suborbital missions so far. SpaceX recently flew version 3 vehicles and made hardware changes for Flight 14. If orbit is reached, SpaceX will move to later development steps like refueling tests.
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