SpaceX's Starship rocket achieved Earth orbit for the first time in a launch from South Texas, despite losing one of six Raptor engines on its upper stage shortly after separation. The company briefly called off the mission before resuming, and the Ship stage went on to deploy all 26 planned third-generation Starlink satellites. SpaceX is still deciding whether to complete a full set of orbits or bring the upper stage down early, while the Super Heavy booster successfully returned to the launch site.
techcrunch.com
· 2026-09-28
SpaceX's Starship rocket achieved orbital insertion during its 14th full-scale test flight from South Texas, with the company confirming the spacecraft reached orbit at over 171 miles altitude and 16,000 mph. Despite the milestone, the company's stock reportedly dipped about one percentage point rather than rallying after markets opened.
futurism.com
· 2026-09-28
SpaceX plans to launch its Starship rocket from Starbase, Texas on Monday morning within a 75-minute window opening at 8:15 a.m. EDT. Flight 14 will attempt to send the vehicle's upper stage into Earth orbit for the first time, where it is meant to deploy 26 next-generation Starlink V3 satellites before splashing down in the Pacific near Chile after roughly 10 hours and six orbits.
space.com
· 2026-09-28
SpaceX is attempting to deploy its first-generation Starlink V3 satellites aboard Starship, marking the rocket's first orbital satellite deployment attempt. The launch comes as Amazon's rival Leo constellation has stalled at 396 satellites, with no successful deployment in twelve weeks, largely due to grounded launch partners ULA's Vulcan and Blue Origin's New Glenn.
theverge.com
· 2026-09-28
SpaceX plans to launch its Starship rocket from Starbase, Texas, on Monday morning, aiming for the vehicle's first orbital flight after 13 prior suborbital tests. The FAA authorized the launch and reentry operations on Sept. 26, and SpaceX intends to deploy 26 new Starlink V3 satellites during the mission.
cnbc.com
· 2026-09-28
SpaceX confirmed it has finished a full launch rehearsal for Starship ahead of its 14th test flight, targeted for September 28 with an 8:15AM Eastern launch window. The rehearsal involved fueling the rocket, running through countdown procedures and simulating a scrub before draining propellant, all without liftoff.
engadget.com
· 2026-09-25
SpaceX is preparing to launch its fourteenth full-scale Starship test flight on Monday, pending regulatory approval. The plan calls for Starship to orbit Earth six times over ten hours at an altitude of 171 miles before attempting a soft landing, following hardware changes to the Super Heavy booster after only 10 of 13 engines relit during the last landing attempt in July.
futurism.com
· 2026-09-25
SpaceX is preparing to launch the fourteenth test flight of its Starship rocket on Monday, marking a new attempt after 13 previous missions. The flight is described as attempting a milestone the vehicle has not achieved in any prior test.
gizmodo.com
· 2026-09-24
SpaceX is reportedly no longer accepting Falcon 9 launch reservations for dates past 2028, even as the rocket remains the workhorse of the global launch market. In 2025, Falcon 9 flew 165 missions with a perfect payload delivery record, accounting for nearly half of all worldwide launches. Elon Musk has said SpaceX will redirect engineering and manufacturing resources from Falcon to Starship once the newer rocket can fly reliably several times a week.
techspot.com
· 2026-09-24
SpaceX is targeting September 28 at 8:15AM Eastern for Starship's 14th flight, pending regulatory approval, after pushing the date back from September 22. Unlike prior suborbital tests, this flight will send Starship into orbit for six loops around Earth over 10 hours and deploy 26 operational Starlink V3 satellites into the constellation. The Super Heavy booster will splash down in the Gulf of Mexico, while the upper stage will later be deorbited into the Pacific.
engadget.com
· 2026-09-19
Italian launch provider Avio says it is fielding a wave of new customer inquiries after SpaceX told several prospective clients it would not accept new commercial Falcon 9 orders. Avio CEO Giulio Ranzo said some of these spurned customers lobbied European institutions at the International Space Summit in Paris for subsidies to offset the higher cost of flying on Europe's Vega C, which reportedly runs about $60 million per launch.
arstechnica.com
· 2026-09-18
SpaceX has redesigned its Starship engine, the Raptor, from a version covered in exposed pipes and wires into the compact Raptor 3 that first flew in May. Despite looking simpler, the newer engine produces roughly 35% more thrust than the original Raptor 1, prompting some observers to initially doubt images of the stripped-down design were genuine.
construction-physics.com
· 2026-09-17
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