SpaceX’s next-generation Starship rocket successfully reached orbit for the first time on Monday, overcoming an unexpected engine shutdown during flight. The vehicle deployed its initial batch of new Starlink satellites, but the mission was cut short and concluded with a controlled, fiery splashdown in the Pacific Ocean.
The mission, originally planned to last 10 hours, was shortened to three hours due to the engine issue. Launching from Texas, this marked Starship’s 14th flight since 2023, as SpaceX prepares to begin routine operations with the vehicle later this year.
SpaceX shares, which had risen nearly 9 percent above their IPO price, fell about 1 percent on Monday. The company’s market valuation stood at $2 trillion as of Friday’s close, with investor confidence heavily tied to Starship’s success. Designed as the world’s first fully reusable spacecraft, Starship is central to SpaceX’s future ambitions.
The uncrewed 40-story rocket, consisting of a Super Heavy booster and the Starship upper stage, launched from SpaceX’s Starbase near Brownsville on the Gulf of Mexico. The Super Heavy booster propelled the upper stage into space before returning to the Gulf for an engine-controlled splashdown, despite experiencing engine failures during descent, a challenge following hard landings on two prior missions.
Shortly after reaching space, one of Starship’s three main engines shut down prematurely. Initially, SpaceX announced the craft would not reach orbit. However, engineers soon confirmed the vehicle could attempt an engine burn to achieve orbit, which it successfully completed minutes later.
The rocket’s descent ended with a thruster maneuver that flipped it vertically, allowing it to touch down nose-up on the ocean surface. Flames engulfed the base as it landed before the rocket tipped onto its side, resulting in a large fireball. SpaceX had not planned to recover the spacecraft after the mission.
Once in orbit, Starship deployed 26 next-generation Starlink V3 satellites individually at approximately 269 kilometers altitude. Elon Musk confirmed on social media that all satellites were operational.
Starship was developed to frequently launch SpaceX’s Starlink satellites and support future NASA lunar missions. Achieving orbit was a critical milestone after a nearly decade-long development process costing over $15 billion. Musk had initially predicted orbit would be reached in 2022, followed by satellite deployments in 2023. Until now, all 13 of Starship’s previous flights were suborbital.
Musk envisions eventually conducting hundreds or thousands of Starship launches annually, a scale unprecedented in the space industry. He recently stated that Starship is two to three years away from achieving hourly flight cadence.
Monday’s flight was considered a test mission despite carrying its first orbital payload. Analysts estimate the launch of the new V3 Starlink satellites represents hundreds of millions of dollars in potential revenue, as these satellites offer ten times the data capacity of previous V2 mini-satellites launched on Falcon 9 rockets.
Musk aims to deploy V3 satellites in batches of 60 per launch once Starship enters routine service, accelerating the expansion of SpaceX’s broadband constellation. This orbital debut occurred three months after SpaceX’s record-breaking IPO in June, which made it the sixth-largest U.S. company by market value and elevated Musk to the status of the world’s first trillionaire.
Looking ahead, Starship will play a crucial role in NASA’s Artemis program, intended to return astronauts to the moon for the first time since 1972 and establish a sustainable lunar presence as a foundation for future human missions to Mars.
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