After more than 40 months of test flights, SpaceX will attempt to put its mammoth Starship into orbit around Earth for the first time and bring it back for a safe landing — 10 hours later.
The company, founded by billionaire Elon Musk, plans to launch the rocket from its private pad in Starbase, Texas, as early as 8:15 a.m. ET on Monday, Sept. 28.
Prior flights that have reached space have only flown straight up and down, meaning gravity has naturally pulled Starship back toward the ground like a tossed ball. But to stay in space, it must instead fly sideways at 17,500 mph. At that staggering speed, the spacecraft is still “falling” toward the ground, but Earth’s surface is curving away at the exact same rate. That’s what allows the spacecraft to continuously stay in space without ever crashing back to the planet.
“Flight tests until this point have intentionally flown passively safe suborbital trajectories to maximize public safety while allowing for maximum learning,” according to SpaceX. “By going to orbit, the next phase of developing Starship to be fully and rapidly reusable can begin.”
The upcoming test, marking Starship’s 14th flight, is the latest step in the company’s long campaign to turn the most powerful rocket ever built into a reusable vehicle — one that can haul heavy cargo, survive a scorching plunge back to Earth, and support NASA‘s Artemis moon missions. Beyond that, Musk’s personal priority is to use the rocket and ship to send people to Mars.
SpaceX says it will stream the South Texas launch on its website and X, the social media platform also owned by Musk. The broadcast is expected to start around 7:45 a.m. ET, or about 30 minutes before liftoff. The actual time those 33 Raptor engines will fire depends on weather conditions, fueling operations, and other factors. The team has until 9:30 a.m. ET to get it off the ground.
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That’s incredibly early in the day for a Starship test — for good reason. Flight controllers are gearing up for a long day at the console. The plan is to send Starship around the planet six times before splashing down in the Pacific Ocean to the west of Chile. Though most flights have concluded in a little over one hour, this 10-hour flight undoubtedly will be a stress test.
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Starship is the name of SpaceX’s super-heavy-lift booster and spacecraft combined. The 400-foot stack towers over NASA’s mega moon rocket, the Space Launch System. SpaceX estimates its stainless steel rocket also has about twice as much thrust, propelled with 10 million pounds of liquid methane and oxygen.
During Monday’s test, the spacecraft will fire an engine again to increase its speed and enter orbit, if it looks healthy. Flight controllers have the option to skip that burn and allow it to arc back to Earth, splashing down in the Indian Ocean, should anything not look good.
While Starship is in orbit, the team will monitor thousands of pieces of data on the engines, computers, navigation, fuel tanks, communications, and other systems. The spacecraft should circle the world at an altitude of 170 miles — well below the International Space Station, which orbits about 250 miles above Earth.
Starship will attempt six orbits around Earth on its 14th test flight.
Credit: SpaceX
SpaceX will attempt another first during the test. Though Starship carried 20 real satellites (as opposed to dummies) on its last flight in July, those were not meant to become operational. They fell back and burned up in the atmosphere.
This time, Starship will try to deploy 26 Starlink V3 internet satellites and actually put them to work. If all goes well, they should go into service within a few weeks. Three of the dishes will be festooned with cameras to provide images from the test and observe the ship’s heatshield.
Then, to end the mission as planned, Starship will have to fire one more time to leave orbit and head back through Earth’s atmosphere. But, however long the test runs, SpaceX intends to cover it. So, buckle up.