SpaceX Sets September 22 Target for Starship's First Orbital Flight
SpaceX is preparing to launch Starship on its first orbital flight as soon as September 22, a nearly 10-hour mission to deploy Starlink V3 satellites.
SpaceX has announced that it is preparing to conduct the next flight test of its Starship vehicle as early as September 22, a mission that would send the rocket into orbit for the first time and deploy an initial set of Starlink V3 satellites.
The flight, the 14th in the Starship test campaign, represents a significant step up from the vehicle's previous outing in July. That test flew a suborbital trajectory, carrying the spacecraft into space before bringing it back to Earth without completing a full orbit.
Under the current plan, Starship would be placed into orbit around Earth, allowing the company to exercise the vehicle over a longer-duration flight and release the first batch of Starlink V3 satellites. The mission is expected to last close to 10 hours, with Starship travelling roughly 275 km above Earth and completing about six orbits before splashing down in the Pacific Ocean west of Chile.
SpaceX also intends to test the booster's launch, separation, boostback and splashdown procedures during the flight. Those milestones feed into the company's broader objective of developing a fully reusable orbital launch system.
The launch remains subject to regulatory approval.