SpaceX spacecraft launches first orbital mission from Texas: NPR

SpaceX spacecraft Flight 14 will launch from Texas on Monday. Flight 14 is expected to be the first to send Starship into orbit around Earth and deploy Starlink satellites.

Ronaldo Schemidt/AFP via Getty Images

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Ronaldo Schemidt/AFP via Getty Images

SpaceX launched its Starship spacecraft from the company’s Starbase facility in Boca Chica Beach, Texas, in a critical test flight that sent the 171-foot-tall vehicle into orbit for the first time.

At 7:48 a.m. CT, Starship’s Super Heavy booster fired its 33 rocket engines to send the spacecraft on its 14th flight. Two and a half minutes after launch, Starship separated from the booster and continued into space. One of the Starship’s six engines failed during ascent, prompting SpaceX to decide whether or not to continue orbiting. About 22 minutes into the flight, the team decided it was safe to do so.

Super Heavy is designed to be reusable by returning to its launch site, where it is captured by the launch tower. This booster, however, simulated a landing offshore in the Gulf of Mexico. SpaceX is testing booster software and hardware upgrades during this flight. No one is on board for this mission.

Starship’s 10-hour flight plan includes about six orbits around Earth at an altitude of about 170 miles. Previous Starship flights have been suborbital. Starship 14 is the first time the vehicle has reached orbital speeds – around 17,500 mph. SpaceX says the launch profile for this mission includes parts that would allow Starship to abort its orbital trajectory and return to Earth safely.

During its flight, SpaceX deployed 26 next-generation Starlink V3 satellites into its constellation of thousands of internet satellites that provide broadband access around the world. SpaceX regularly launches Starlink satellites from Florida and California using its Falcon 9 rocket, but announced the final mission from Florida last month with plans to use Starship from Florida’s Space Coast in the future.

If all goes as planned during Monday’s flight, the Starship will crash into the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Chile. Ultimately, SpaceX wants to recover the spacecraft and reuse it.

SpaceX is testing key systems on the Starship vehicle, such as its heat shield. Three of these Starlink satellites are equipped with cameras to capture data on the Starship’s heat shield. Surviving reentry is key to SpaceX’s plans for spacecraft reuse.

The company is banking on Starship to continue its growth. It is the only spacecraft capable of launching the larger V3 version of its Starlink satellites. In its FEC filings ahead of SpaceX’s June IPO, the company highlighted Starship’s role in its growth plans. “Any failure or delay in developing Starship at scale or in achieving the launch cadence, reusability and capabilities required thereafter would delay or limit our ability to execute our growth strategy,” it reads.