Sept. 28, 2026 · Starship is in orbit: Flight 14 put all 26 Starlink V3 satellites in space on its first orbital attempt

September 28, 2026 · Breaking · Updated Sept. 29

Starship is in orbit: Flight 14 put all 26 Starlink V3 satellites in space on its first orbital attempt

Ship 41 above Earth's horizon, 276 kilometers up, about 25 minutes after liftoff — Ship 41 above Earth, 276 km up, about 25 minutes after liftoff. Image: SpaceX webcast.

It happened. Starship lifted off from Pad 2 at Starbase shortly before 7:50 a.m. Central on Monday, and at 8:15 SpaceX posted the milestone the whole program has been working toward: Starship "performs its orbital insertion burn and enters orbit of Earth for the first time." Forty minutes later came the payload. At 8:54 SpaceX posted that all 26 Starlink V3 satellites are in orbit, and at 8:57 that the Starlink team had made contact with all 26. That is the first Starship to reach orbit and the first Starlink V3 satellites in the constellation, on the same flight.

The morning ran close to plan. SpaceX moved its target inside the 75-minute window, first to 7:46 and then to 7:48, and started the webcast at 7:15. After liftoff the ship hot-staged, and Super Heavy boosted back and splashed down at its planned site in the Gulf of America. By 7:58 the ascent burn was complete, and Starship was coasting on a passively safe suborbital path while teams checked its systems. At 8:11 SpaceX called "Go for orbit," and a burn on a single Raptor engine put the ship into an orbit about 275 kilometers up.

At 9:17 a.m. SpaceX said flight teams would deorbit Starship to a pre-cleared area of the Pacific after 3 hours in orbit. At 10:04 a.m. SpaceX reported the deorbit burn complete, with splashdown planned in the Pacific in about an hour. Update, Sept. 29: at 10:58 a.m. Monday SpaceX posted: "Splashdown confirmed. Congratulations to the entire SpaceX team on the first orbital flight of Starship!" The video in that post shows the ship's landing burn over open ocean about 3 hours and 8 minutes after liftoff, by the flight clock on screen.

Closer to home: as of Tuesday 10 a.m., the city lists Boca Chica Beach as open with no road delays. Check the live status before you head out, or text BEACH to 866-513-3475.

Sources: SpaceX on X, Sept. 28 (all times CT): 5:27 AM — targeting 7:46 · 6:54 AM — go for propellant load, targeting 7:48 · 7:15 AM — webcast starts · 7:50 AM — "Liftoff of Starship!" · 7:53 AM — hot staging, boostback · 7:56 AM — Super Heavy splashdown · 7:58 AM — ascent burn complete · 8:11 AM — go for orbit · 8:15 AM — orbital insertion, "enters orbit of Earth for the first time" · 8:25 AM — payload deploy begins · 8:54 AM — "All 26 Starlink V3 satellites are in orbit" · 8:57 AM — contact with all 26 satellites · 9:17 AM — deorbit to the Pacific after 3 hours in orbit · 10:04 AM — deorbit burn complete · 10:58 AM — "Splashdown confirmed" · SpaceX — Starship Flight 14 mission page (rendered Sept. 28) · City of Starbase — Beach and Road Access (checked 9:10 AM Sept. 28 and 10 AM Sept. 29)

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