SpaceX will try to put Starship in orbit for the first time on September 22

SpaceX announced that it will attempt to put the Starship upper stage into Earth orbit for the first time during the vehicle’s 14th test flight, scheduled for September 22. The company has a 75-minute launch window beginning at 7:15 a.m. CT, and plans to deploy 26 V3 Starlink satellites into its internet constellation if the flight proceeds as planned.

Reaching orbit with the upper stage would mark a significant advancement for a program that has consumed billions in development spending and figures prominently in SpaceX’s long-term plans. The company has said it intends to phase out Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy once Starship can fly reliably multiple times per week; getting the vehicle into orbit, back to Earth and rapidly reused is central to fulfilling the operational cadence highlighted during SpaceX’s June initial public offering.

SpaceX will not attempt to catch the upper stage with the launch tower on this mission, a maneuver CEO Elon Musk recently downplayed as too risky after earlier comments. The company also will not try to recover the Super Heavy booster this flight. SpaceX has made “several modifications” to the booster’s hardware and software to address issues experienced on Flight 13, when the booster struggled to relight its engines after separation.

The Starship upper stage performed better on Flight 13: it did not reach orbit but survived a simulated landing in the Indian Ocean and was recovered intact enough that engineers were able to tow it back to Texas for study. SpaceX said it has applied lessons from that returned vehicle to improve the heat shield ahead of the upcoming attempt. If the September 22 flight achieves orbital insertion and deploys the V3 satellites, it would also represent the first Starship mission to generate revenue for the company’s launch division.