SpaceX launched its enormous Starship into orbit for the first time Monday and successfully delivered the most advanced Starlinks yet, but cut the flight short to ensure safety.
The spacecraft reentered over the Pacific and splashed down north of Hawaii three hours after blasting off from Texas. NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman congratulated SpaceX on reaching orbit and “managing every step in a safe, responsible and especially inspirational way. They popped out of the spacecraft one by one, drawing more cheers from the SpaceX crowds looking on from the launch site at Starbase, Texas.
The company had been aiming for a 10-hour flight, spanning six full laps around Earth, to prove its readiness for NASA’s Artemis moon program. Musk’s showpiece rocket – the biggest and most powerful ever built – carried 26 of the latest Starlink satellites to join the 11,000 older models already providing internet service.
It was Starship’s 14th full-scale launch from Texas’ southern tip in three years. SpaceX wants to ensure that everything works before flying Starship back to Starbase.
If the spacecraft breaks apart over land and rains debris onto people, “our popularity would diminish very rapidly,” Musk said at a business summit earlier this month. “That’s why we’re being extremely cautious here.”
The earlier test flights ventured no farther than the Indian Ocean halfway around the world, often crashing in flames and briefly skimming space.
Engineers modified the newly launched Starship’s heat shield based on hands-on inspections from the recovered spacecraft, which is being tugged back to Starbase. Depending on the findings from Monday’s orbital debut, the next Starship could return to the launch pad with giant mechanical arms grabbing the hovering spacecraft. If the catch works – Musk gives it even or slightly better odds – then SpaceX will refly the spacecraft by year’s end or early next year. SpaceX managed to salvage the last Starship from the Indian Ocean in July. SpaceX is pressing hard to certify Starship for orbital flight, a vital step toward moon and Mars travel.
The 407-foot (124-meter) rocket was designed from the start to be fully reusable – a key to lowering launch costs.
