SpaceX’s Starship performed a landing before touching down in the Pacific Ocean near Hawaii after completing its mission to enter Earth’s orbit for the first time. (SpaceX) SpaceX’s massive Starship rocket lifted off from Texas on Monday morning on its most ambitious test flight yet, aiming for a roughly 10-hour mission that would have sent the spacecraft around Earth six times, although the company ultimately decided to end the flight earlier than planned. Minutes after the unmanned spacecraft ascended, the rocket lost one of its engines, calling into question whether the test flight would abandon its goal of reaching orbit for the first time. After several tense minutes, flight controllers decided the spacecraft was “on track” to orbit and continued the mission. Starship successfully completed an orbital burn with a single Raptor engine to reach Earth orbit about 26 minutes after liftoff. SPACEX UNVEILS $100 BILLION LAUNCH SITE IN LOUISIANA EXPECTED TO CREATE THOUSANDS OF JOBS The SpaceX Starship and Super Heavy v3 Booster lift off on their 14th test flight from SpaceX’s launch complex in Starbase, Texas, on September 28, 2026. The mission is expected to send the vehicle into orbit for the first time and deploy 26 Starlink V3 satellites (REUTERS/Steve Nesius / Reuters Photos)”Starship is orbital,” Mission Control announced as people applauded the milestone. Ticker Security Last Change Change % SpaceX then made the call to end Starship’s first orbital mission earlier than planned. Flight crews were expected to deorbit Starship after three hours in orbit, SpaceX said. Around noon, Starship splashed down in the Pacific Ocean. The launch marks Starship’s 14th test flight and its first attempt to reach orbit, a significant step from previous suborbital missions that ended with splashdowns about an hour after liftoff. The spacecraft also deployed 26 Starlink satellites while in orbit. The Starlink V3s were up and running, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk wrote in (@SpaceX via X) So far, all Starship flights have been uncrewed, but NASA is looking to use a future version of the spacecraft as a lunar lander for astronauts. The long-term goal is even more ambitious: a large fleet of Starships capable of transporting humans to Mars. GET FOX BUSINESS ON THE GO BY CLICKING HERE
