Starship's first orbital flight set for September 22
What's the story
SpaceX has announced its plan to launch the 14th Starship mission as early as September 22, pending regulatory approval. This will be a major milestone in the company's Starship development campaign, which started with its first test flight on April 20, 2023. The upcoming mission will see SpaceX attempt to send the experimental vehicle into orbit for the first time.
Mission specifics
Launch is scheduled for 7:15am local time
The launch is scheduled for 7:15am local time in Texas (12:15 UTC), during a 75-minute window.
The Super Heavy rocket will carry 26 of the larger V3 Starlink satellites into an orbit some 275km above Earth.
SpaceX has said that the upper stage of Starship will try to complete six orbits around Earth before ending its mission after about 10 hours.
Development journey
Major step forward in SpaceX's Starship development journey
The upcoming mission marks a major step forward in SpaceX's Starship development journey.
The company has been making changes to the vehicle as it works to refine the third generation of its Super Heavy booster and Starship upper stage.
After recent successes, SpaceX seems to be getting closer to building a fully reusable super heavy-lift rocket.
Flight goals
Super Heavy rocket modified for upcoming mission
The Super Heavy rocket for this flight has been modified with hardware changes to filter the engines better and software updates to improve relight reliability.
Instead of returning to the launch site, it will try a controlled landing in the Gulf of Mexico.
If successful, this could pave the way for a first-stage catch on the next Starship flight.