SpaceX targets September 28 for Starship's first orbital flight

For Starship’s 14th test flight, it will orbit our planet multiple times for 10 hours. SpaceX targets September 28 for Starship’s first orbital flight. Tomorrow Space SpaceX targets September 28 for Starship’s first orbital flight It will also be the first time the company is adding V3 satellites to the Starlink constellation.

SpaceX has now revealed that it’s targeting September 28 for the rocket’s 14th flight, with a 75-minute launch window opening at 8:15AM Eastern Time. The company was originally planning a September 22 launch, but it announced the new date without an explanation on X, where it also said that it’s still pending regulatory approval. Now targeting to launch Starship Flight 14 as early as Monday, September 28, pending regulatory approval https://t.co/3nG9wffG6A — SpaceX (@SpaceX) September 17, 2026 Starship’s previous flight tests have all been suborbital "to maximize public safety while allowing for maximum learning." SpaceX says this upcoming phase is the next step to prepare the vehicle for actual future flights and to ensure its reusability.

During the test, Starship will fly 171 miles above our planet and will orbit Earth six times within the course of 10 hours. The upper stage will also insert 26 Starlink V3 satellites into SpaceX’s constellation. In Starship’s previous test, the vehicle carried the next-gen satellites for the first time, just to make sure it’s capable of doing so.

Those satellites only extended their solar arrays and antennas to communicate with the rest of the Starlink constellation before burning up in our atmosphere.