SpaceX Starship Targets First Orbit: 26 Starlink Satellites Are Coming Along
SpaceX Starship will attempt first orbital flight on Sept. 22. Image: SpaceX/Unsplash
SpaceX targets Sept. 22 for Starship Flight 14, its first orbital attempt carrying 26 operational Starlink satellites.
Sep 17, 2026
SpaceX is finally ready to push its giant stainless steel rocket past the edge of space and into true Earth orbit.
The company announced Tuesday that it is targeting as early as Sept. 22 to launch the 14th test flight of Starship from its Starbase facility in South Texas. A 75-minute launch window opens at 7:15 a.m. CT (12:15 UTC), pending regulatory approval.
The nearly 10-hour flight plan calls for the upper stage to reach an altitude of roughly 275 kilometers (171 miles), circle Earth six times, and complete a controlled deorbit burn with a single Raptor engine before splashing down in the Pacific Ocean west of Chile.
From suborbital tests to commercial payload delivery
For its first...
Copyright of this story solely belongs to www.techrepublic.com. To see the full text click HERE
