SpaceX Starship Reaches Earth Orbit for First Time on 14th Test Flight

Starship has finally made it to Earth orbit. SpaceX's next-generation spacecraft Starship succeeded in reaching orbit for the first time on its 14th test flight on Monday (local time).

Once in orbit, Starship deployed 26 new Starlink V3 satellites. Each satellite adds 1 Tbps of communications capacity, meaning this single flight adds 26 Tbps — roughly 10 times the capacity of a Falcon 9 launch carrying V2 Mini satellites.

While reaching orbit is a basic milestone for any new rocket, it had long been an elusive goal for Starship. CEO Elon Musk once pledged orbital entry by 2022, but after the first test flight in 2023, all 13 previous flights ended in suborbital trajectories.

Starship was developed for Starlink satellite launches as well as NASA's lunar exploration missions.