SpaceX Starship Reaches Orbit for the First Time and Deploys 26 Starlink V3 Satellites

SpaceX's Starship reached Earth orbit for the first time on Monday, launching from South Texas and deploying all 26 third-generation Starlink satellites it carried . The flight was not clean: shortly after stage separation the upper stage lost one of its six Raptor engines, and SpaceX initially called off the orbital attempt before deciding a few minutes later to keep going .

The milestone matters commercially because orbit is what lets Starship start flying regular paid missions. SpaceX has said one full Starship launch of V3 satellites adds as much capacity to the Starlink network as 20 Falcon 9 flights of the older V2 mini satellites, and the constellation is already about 10,000 strong . The Super Heavy booster also returned to the Gulf coast and performed a simulated landing over the water, the cleanest yet for the V3 version, which began testing in May . Starship is central to SpaceX's NASA moon missions and to longer-range ideas such as data center satellites in orbit .

This was the third test of Starship V3 and the second launch since SpaceX went public in the largest IPO ever . SPCX rose more than 1% in early trading, according to TechCrunch , but the gain did not hold: by midday our data showed the stock at $147.51, down 0.8%, suggesting the milestone was largely priced in ahead of the flight.

What to watch next is cadence and reuse. SpaceX was still deciding whether to complete the planned six orbits over nine hours or bring the upper stage down early , and the engine loss will draw scrutiny on reliability. Longer term, Musk wants Starship flying thousands of times a year, and SpaceX plans to invest $100 billion in a new Louisiana launch complex with construction starting next year .