Starship Flight 14

The payload

26 Starlink V3 satellites on Starship's 14th flight and first orbital flight. SpaceX's page records liftoff from Starbase at 7:48 a.m. CT (12:48 UTC) on Monday 28 September 2026 and calls it the first Starship flight to deliver meaningful payload to orbit. One booster Raptor shut down on the climb and one of the ship's Raptor Vacuum engines shut down early; the other five ship engines burned longer to reach the planned path, and a single sea-level Raptor then fired to put Starship into orbit around Earth for the first time. All 26 satellites deployed, and SpaceX made contact with every one of them over laser links, ground stations and Starlink user terminals. Out of caution after the ascent engine loss, SpaceX shortened the time on orbit, flew Starship's first deorbit burn and splashed the ship down on target in the northern Pacific Ocean, at one of two pre-coordinated landing zones. The booster splashed down in the Gulf.

Status history

1. 27 Sep 2026Added as scheduled from SpaceX's own Flight 14 page: as soon as Monday 28 September, pending regulatory approval, in a 75-minute window opening at 7:15 a.m. CT (12:15 to 13:30 UTC), from Pad 2 at Starbase. SpaceX's X post of 17 September moved the target to that date, and its page states that the schedule of developmental testing is dynamic and likely to change.
2. 2 Oct 2026Launched: SpaceX's own Flight 14 page records liftoff from Starbase at 7:48 a.m. CT (12:48 UTC) on 28 September, the first orbital Starship flight, with all 26 Starlink V3 satellites deployed and in contact, the first deorbit burn and a splashdown on target in the northern Pacific. One booster engine and one ship Raptor Vacuum shut down early. Jonathan McDowell's catalogue logs the liftoff in the same minute.

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