Starship reaches Earth orbit for first time, deploys 26 satellites

SpaceX's Starship reached Earth orbit for the first time on Monday, marking a major milestone in the company's efforts to develop a fully reusable spacecraft.

Starship lifted off atop the giant Super Heavy booster from SpaceX's Starbase facility in South Texas on a planned test flight.

The spacecraft encountered a problem early in the flight when one of its engines shut down during ascent, before SpaceX engineers confirmed it could continue the mission and reach orbit.

The mission had been planned to complete approximately six orbits around Earth over nearly 10 hours before splashing down in the Pacific Ocean west of Chile. Starship also carried and deployed 26 new-generation Starlink V3 satellites.

WAM