Starship Reaches Orbit, Deploys Starlink Satellites and Splashes Down After Three-Hour Flight

Starship Reaches Orbit, Deploys Starlink Satellites and Splashes Down After Three-Hour Flight

On Sept. 28, 2026, the Super Heavy-Starship lifted off from Texas, carried 26 Starlink satellites to a 180-mile-high orbit, and splashed down after a shortened three-hour flight as NASA eyes the vehicle for the 2028 Artemis moon landing.

SpaceX launched the Super Heavy‑Starship rocket from Starbase, Texas, on Sept. 28, 2026, spaceflightnow.com, Smithsonian Magazine, Mashable and Ars Technica reported. The vehicle lifted off at the start of its window and began its first attempt to reach orbit, marking the first time the Starship upper stage achieved orbital velocity.

Gorgeous launch, getting Ship to orbit and managing every step in a safe, responsible, and especially inspirational way.

Jared Isaacman, spaceflightnow.com

The Super Heavy booster uses 33 methane‑burning Raptor engines, a configuration noted by spaceflightnow.com, Smithsonian Magazine and Ars Technica. Together these engines generate between 16 million and 18 million pounds of thrust, according to spaceflightnow.com and Ars Technica. The full Super Heavy‑Starship stack stands 400 to 407 feet tall, figures cited by spaceflightnow.com, Smithsonian Magazine and Ars Technica.

During the climb to orbit, one of the upper stage’s six Raptor engines shut down early, a detail reported by spaceflightnow.com, Smithsonian Magazine and Mashable. On the booster, one engine also shut down early in the ascent and another failed to ignite during the boost‑back maneuver, spaceflightnow.com and Smithsonian Magazine added.

Despite those anomalies, the Starship upper stage performed a second engine burn using a single Raptor and reached a 180‑mile‑high orbit, according to spaceflightnow.com, Smithsonian Magazine and Mashable. The vehicle then deployed 26 third‑generation Starlink internet satellites, a number confirmed by spaceflightnow.com, Smithsonian Magazine, Mashable and Ars Technica.

The mission planners shortened the flight to about three hours, compared with the planned ten‑hour flight consisting of six orbits, spaceflightnow.com, Smithsonian Magazine and Mashable stated. At 11:57 a.m. EDT that day, the Starship upper stage performed a controlled vertical splashdown north of Hawaii, though it exploded after tipping over, spaceflightnow.com and Mashable reported. The Super Heavy booster executed a controlled splashdown in the Gulf of Mexico near the Texas coast, a detail noted by spaceflightnow.com, Mashable and Ars Technica.

That's the first time we've ever said that in this program: 'Go for orbit,'

Jake Berkowitz, Mashable

NASA intends to use a Starship variant as a lunar lander for the Artemis program, with a targeted moon landing in 2028, spaceflightnow.com and Smithsonian Magazine report. The agency estimates that about 15 Super Heavy‑Starship tanker flights will need to refuel the lander before it docks with an Orion crew capsule, a figure provided by spaceflightnow.com. NASA is also funding an alternative lander from Blue Origin as a hedge against potential delays with SpaceX, according to spaceflightnow.com and Smithsonian Magazine.

The Artemis III mission, planned for 2027, will send four astronauts in an Orion capsule to dock with prototype landers from SpaceX and Blue Origin in low‑Earth orbit, a test that will help assess both designs before a crewed lunar landing, spaceflightnow.com and Smithsonian Magazine noted. SpaceX currently has two active Super Heavy‑Starship pads in Texas, and three more are under construction in Florida, including one at Kennedy Space Center’s pad 39A, according to spaceflightnow.com.