SpaceX Starship blasts off on first orbital attempt, targeting six laps around Earth

SpaceX launched its Starship rocket toward orbit for the first time on Monday, sending the largest and most powerful vehicle ever built on a mission designed to circle the Earth six times before splashing down in the Pacific near Chile.

The flight lifted off from the southern tip of Texas, the site of the company's previous 13 full-scale Starship launches over the past three years. Those earlier tests never travelled beyond the Indian Ocean, roughly halfway around the world, and several ended in fiery break-ups after brief brushes with space.

This time the vehicle was to climb to an altitude of about 275 kilometres and remain in flight for nearly 10 hours. The first-stage booster was not expected to return to the Starbase launch site; it was to fall into the Gulf of Mexico minutes after liftoff.

SpaceX had stressed that all systems needed to perform correctly before the critical "go" for orbit was issued. A "no-go" decision would have ended the flight early in the Indian Ocean.

On board were 26 of the newest Starlink satellites, joining roughly 11,000 older units already delivering internet service.

Founder Elon Musk has said the company is deliberately cautious about bringing the spacecraft back over land. Debris raining down on populated areas would sharply erode public support, he told a business summit this month, explaining the decision to keep the vehicle over water until its systems are proven.

If the orbital debut proceeds as planned, the next Starship is to return to the launch pad, where giant mechanical arms will attempt to catch it in mid-air. Musk has described the odds of a successful catch as roughly even. A successful recovery would allow the spacecraft to fly again by the end of this year or early next.

The 124-metre rocket was conceived as a fully reusable system, a design choice intended to bring down launch costs. SpaceX retrieved the previous Starship from the Indian Ocean in July, and engineers used hands-on inspections of that recovered vehicle to modify the heat shield on the newly launched craft. The earlier spacecraft is being towed back to Starbase.

Certifying Starship for orbital flight is a central goal for SpaceX as it works toward missions to the Moon and Mars. NASA's Artemis III mission, which could fly as soon as next summer, is planned as a triple-launch docking exercise in Earth orbit involving an Orion capsule carrying astronauts and two competing lunar landers. Blue Origin's Blue Moon is to launch first, followed by Orion, which will close in for a linkup, and then Musk's Starship, which will dock with Orion after Blue Moon separates.

The following mission, Artemis IV, scheduled for no earlier than 2028, would see astronauts land on the Moon in either Blue Moon or Starship, whichever is ready first. Later lunar missions are to alternate between the two landers.

Musk originally developed Starship with Mars in mind, envisioning fleets of the vehicles carrying the red planet's first settlers. For now, the focus is on the Moon and on hauling satellites into orbit in large batches, with plans to phase out the company's smaller Falcon 9 rocket within several years. A second Starship launch site is nearing completion at Florida's Kennedy Space Center, and a third is planned for Louisiana.