SpaceX Starship reaches orbit, deploys 26 Starlink satellites, then cuts test flight short
SpaceX’s Starship reached orbit for the first time on Monday and released 26 Starlink satellites, but returned to the Pacific after about three hours rather than completing its planned 10-hour flight. The company said it ended the mission early out of caution after an engine shut down prematurely; the spacecraft tipped over and caught fire on splashdown.
Bottom line — Starship has reached orbit, but SpaceX still needs to prove the 124-metre vehicle can complete its planned flights safely.
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The flight was Starship’s 14th full-scale launch from Texas in three years, according to the Nashua Telegraph.
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SpaceX had planned six circuits of Earth at an altitude of about 275 kilometres; flight controllers brought the spacecraft back after a couple of laps.
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The Nashua Telegraph reports that Starship carried the latest Starlink satellites, which joined about 11,000 older models already providing internet service.
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NASA’s Artemis III mission could take place as soon as next summer and includes an orbital docking exercise involving Orion and competing lunar landers, the Nashua Telegraph reports.
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Financhill estimates a Starship launch currently costs about €92 million (US$100 million), while a New Glenn launch costs just under €64 million (US$70 million).
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Financhill says Blue Origin’s New Glenn has launched three times, while SpaceX has conducted 14 Starship launches, nine of them successful.