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Elon Musk’s SpaceX has set September 28 as the target date for the first orbital test flight of its giant Starship rocket, following a slight schedule adjustment while awaiting regulatory and administrative approvals.
The mission, Starship’s 14th test flight, is planned to reach an altitude of about 171 miles and make six orbits of Earth over roughly 10 hours.
Unlike previous tests, which remained suborbital, the upcoming mission is intended to mark a major step toward making Starship fully reusable and preparing it for regular commercial operations.
A key objective of the flight will be the deployment of 26 next-generation Starlink V3 internet satellites. While previous tests carried satellites mainly to demonstrate launch capabilities, the new satellites are intended to provide commercial services to customers.
The Starlink V3 satellites are designed to deliver downlink speeds of up to 1 terabit per second, about 10 times the capacity of the previous V2 generation. Their uplink capacity is expected to reach 160 gigabits per second, around 22 times higher than earlier versions.
The landing plan will also differ from SpaceX’s more ambitious booster-catching approach. The Super Heavy booster will fall into the Gulf of Mexico several minutes after liftoff instead of being caught by the launch tower’s mechanical arms.
After completing its mission in space, the Starship spacecraft is expected to splash down in the Pacific Ocean near the coast of Chile.
SpaceX plans to livestream the entire launch through its account on X.