SpaceX Starship Reaches Orbit for First Time Despite Engine Shutdown

SpaceX's next-generation Starship rocket lifted off from Texas on Monday and reached orbit for the first time, despite one of its engines shutting down early, as the company attempted its most ambitious mission yet — deploying an initial batch of Starlink satellites.

The uncrewed vehicle, standing about 40 stories tall, comprises a Super Heavy booster topped by the Starship upper stage. It launched from SpaceX's Starbase complex on the Gulf of Mexico near Brownsville.

During the company's live stream, spokesperson Dan Huot initially said Starship would be unable to reach orbit after an engine cut off earlier than planned. He reversed that assessment minutes later, after engineers confirmed the craft could still perform a key engine burn to boost it into orbit.

Starship is designed to launch Starlink satellites more frequently and to carry future NASA missions to the moon. It was expected to complete six orbits of Earth over a 10-hour voyage — its longest flight to date — before splashing down in the Pacific Ocean west of Chile.

Reaching orbit is a primary benchmark for any new rocket built to deliver payloads to space, and it has been a long-delayed milestone for Starship. SpaceX chief executive Elon Musk once predicted the feat would be achieved in 2022, with satellite deployments to follow in 2023.

Instead, all 13 of Starship's previous test flights since 2023 were confined to suborbital space, even after a development campaign spanning nearly a decade that has cost SpaceX more than $15 billion. Musk has said he envisions eventually flying hundreds or thousands of Starships a year, a launch pace unprecedented in the space industry.