Starship reaches orbit for the first time — but engine failures are still part of the ride

SpaceX's Starship reached orbit for the first time on September 28, 2026, completing a mission that the company has been working toward since the rocket's first explosive test in 2023. Flight 14 carried 26 Starlink V3 satellites — the first time a Starship has deployed a commercial payload from orbit — and marks a direct step toward NASA's Artemis lunar landing program.

The flight

The Super Heavy booster lost one Raptor engine shortly after liftoff, but the system continued normally. SpaceX performed a hot-staging separation — where the upper stage ignites before the booster fully detaches — and the booster splashed down in the ocean. It exploded after landing, which SpaceX considers an acceptable outcome at this stage of testing.

Ship 41 itself ran into trouble too: a vacuum Raptor engine failed mid-flight. Engineers compensated with a second engine burn roughly 25 minutes in, pushing the vehicle into a stable orbit at about 275 km altitude and over 26,000 km/h. The history of Starship Block 3 flights shows this kind of mid-flight adaptation has become a pattern — the question is whether it can be engineered out before crewed missions begin.

Starship’s 14th flight is set to launch on Monday, Sept 28. The 75-minute launch window opens at 7:15 a.m. CT. Live coverage of the mission starts ~35 minutes before launch → https://t.co/uQKQvgaTmJ

— SpaceX (@SpaceX) September 27, 2026

Why it matters

This is Starship's first revenue-generating flight. The 26 Starlink V3 satellites now in orbit represent the next generation of SpaceX's internet constellation, which already counts more than 11,000 units. NASA is watching closely: Starship is the designated lunar lander for Artemis III, with an Orion–Starship docking test planned for 2027, as outlined in the NASA Artemis lunar docking plan.

The challenge ahead is substantial. Starship HLS needs to demonstrate 10 to 16 orbital refuelling burns before it can carry astronauts to the Moon — likely in 2028 or 2029. NASA also chose to NASA ditches its 40-year-old relay satellites to stream Artemis III in 4K via Starlink in favor of Starlink for Artemis III coverage, tightening the dependency on SpaceX's hardware performing reliably.

The reliability question

Engine anomalies appeared on Flights 7 through 13 and continued here. CBS News reports that industry observers are skeptical SpaceX can deliver a flight-ready crewed Starship by 2028, particularly given the number of orbital refuelling demonstrations still required. SpaceX has also SpaceX stops building Crew Dragons — five capsules to cover NASA for a decade, betting its NASA relationship on Starship succeeding on schedule — a significant commitment given what Flight 14 still revealed about Raptor consistency.

Reaching orbit is a genuine milestone. Whether the hardware can reach the reliability bar that crewed lunar missions demand is the next, harder test.