Archive · 28 Sep 2026
SpaceX Starship Prepares for First Orbital Test Flight
SpaceX plans to launch its very large Starship rocket on Monday.
The launch window is scheduled to open at 8:15 a.m.
Eastern time.
Earlier Starship tests flew high but did not reach enough speed to stay in orbit.
This mission is supposed to travel around Earth several times if everything works.
It will also release newer Starlink satellites into space.
These satellites could help Starlink offer mobile wireless communications.
SpaceX also hopes to use Starship later to launch satellites that provide computing power for artificial intelligence.
The company says reusable rockets could make space launches cheaper, but the plans still depend on successful tests.
SpaceX plans to launch its Starship rocket Monday during a window opening at 8:15 a.m. Eastern time.
The mission could be Starship’s first orbital flight after 13 prior suborbital tests.
Starship is expected to deploy working version three Starlink satellites during the multi-hour mission.
The larger V3 satellites are intended to support Starlink’s expansion into mobile wireless communications.
SpaceX says future Starship missions could deploy Starmind AI satellites and help build orbital computing infrastructure.
- Who
- SpaceX is conducting the Starship test flight.
- What
- The company plans to launch Starship on its 14th test and attempt its first orbital flight.
- When
- Monday, with the launch window opening at 8:15 a.m. Eastern time.
- Where
- The flight will travel around Earth; the article does not specify the launch site.
- Why
- The test is intended to evaluate orbital flight, deploy V3 Starlink satellites, and gather data for future reusable-rocket and space-computing missions.
- Test number
- 14th Starship test flight
- Launch window
- Monday at 8:15 a.m. Eastern time
- Planned speed
- About 18,000 miles per hour
- Mission profile
- Several Earth orbits during a multi-hour mission, if successful
- Payload
- Working version three Starlink satellites
- Starlink scale
- More than 11,000 satellites serving more than 12 million customers
- Previous test
- Flight test 13 in July was described as largely successful and deployed some V3 test satellites
- Reported valuation
- SpaceX was valued at about $2 trillion before Monday trading