SpaceX's Starship reached orbit for the first time on Monday 28 September 2026. On its 14th test flight, the upper stage went into low Earth orbit, released 26 working Starlink V3 satellites, fired an engine to come back down, and splashed down in the Pacific north of Hawaii about three hours after launch.
Harper Quinn · Sunday 4 October 2026
Questions readers ask
What is SpaceX Starship?
Starship is a two-stage launch system built by SpaceX at Starbase in South Texas. The first stage is the Super Heavy booster and the second stage is the ship. Both are stainless steel and burn liquid methane and liquid oxygen in Raptor engines.
When did Starship first reach orbit?
On Flight 14, on Monday 28 September 2026. The ship went into low Earth orbit, released 26 Starlink V3 satellites and splashed down north of Hawaii about three hours after launch.
How tall is Starship?
About 124 metres for the full Version 3 stack, according to SpaceX's published specifications. SpaceX lists the ship alone at about 52 metres.
How many engines does Starship have?
Super Heavy has 33 Raptor engines and the ship has six, three built for sea level and three for vacuum.
What does Starship have to do with the Moon?
In April 2021 NASA picked a Starship variant as the lander for its first crewed Artemis landing, in a contract worth about US$2.9 billion. Moon flights also depend on moving fuel between two vehicles in orbit, which SpaceX hasn't done yet.
Sources
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