SpaceX's Starship rocket has successfully reached Earth's orbit for the first time. The enormous rocket, described as the largest and most powerful ever constructed, launched from the Starbase facility in Texas at 7:48 am local time (1:48 pm BST) on Monday, 28 September 2026.
This flight marks Starship's 14th test and its initial attempt to orbit the planet before returning to Earth. Despite an engine failure during ascent, mission controllers decided to proceed, pushing the ship onto its planned orbital trajectory. Daniel Hewitt, narrating a live stream, confirmed, "Starship is in orbit."
The mission saw Starship reach an altitude of approximately 171 miles (275km). While initially planned for six loops of Earth over nearly 10 hours, SpaceX later announced an early return, aiming for a landing three hours after launch.
Professor Martin Barstow of astrophysics and space science at the University of Leicester called the achievement "an important milestone for SpaceX." He added that it "marks the beginning of the transition from the testing and development phase to becoming a working vehicle able to deliver the large payloads needed to return to the moon."
This success is expected to be a relief for SpaceX and Nasa, who plan to use Starship to transport astronauts to the moon for future lunar expeditions. The mission also deployed next-generation Starlink satellites, some of which carry cameras to capture images of Starship's heat shield for future testing.