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Starship Flight 14: Full Mission (in under 10 minutes)
9/10TL;DR
SpaceX completed Starship’s first orbital mission, reached orbit after an insertion burn, deployed 26 Starlink V3 satellites, and brought both stages down with controlled ocean landings.
KEY POINTS
First orbital success
Starship reached orbit for the first time after a mission that began from Starbase at about 7:48 a.m. Central Time. After stage separation, the upper stage continued on six engines before completing an orbital insertion burn with a single sea-level Raptor engine that lasted about 19 seconds. Mission controllers reported no alerts or alarms during the maneuver and confirmed the vehicle was orbital.
Super Heavy ascent and return
The Super Heavy booster lit all 33 engines at liftoff and then shut down most of them at main engine cutoff before hot staging. During the boostback burn, 31 of 33 engines were operating in the initial phase. The booster later performed a landing burn, throttling from a larger engine set down to five and then three, before making a controlled splashdown in the ocean.
Hot staging and upper-stage performance
Following cutoff on the booster, Starship ignited six engines and separated cleanly. The mission included a coast phase before the orbital insertion attempt, reflecting caution around upper-stage sea-level engine performance because those engines were also needed for deorbit and reentry operations. The successful burn marked a major step in demonstrating a fully orbital-capable Starship profile.
Starlink deployment milestone
The mission deployed 26 Starlink V3 satellites, described as the first of that version to be sent out by Starship. Contact was made with all 26 satellites after deployment. The satellites are expected to raise their own orbits in the following days, adding a commercial payload achievement to what had previously been a test-focused flight program.
Reentry and splashdown of Starship
After reaching orbit and gathering the desired data, teams chose an earlier reentry trajectory toward Hawaii. On final approach, Starship executed its landing burn with three engines visible before throttling down. The spacecraft landed in the water, not as softly as the previous splashdown, but intact enough to count as another major recovery milestone.
Historic timing
The mission came 18 years to the day after Falcon 1 first reached orbit on its fourth flight, a symbolic anniversary for SpaceX. The comparison underscored how the company views Starship’s orbital success as a foundational moment for future missions, much as Falcon 1 paved the way for later launch systems.
A multi-vehicle recovery day
By the end of operations, one Starship had splashed down and another vehicle, Ship 40, was reported to be returning in the Northern Hemisphere. The result was an unusually crowded status board for the program, with what mission personnel described as effectively “two and a half” Starships in the water on Earth after the day’s activity.
CONCLUSION
The flight combined several firsts in a single mission: orbit, orbital insertion, Starlink V3 deployment, and controlled recoveries of both stages. It marks a significant advance for SpaceX’s Starship program as it moves from experimental tests toward repeatable orbital operations.
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