SpaceX Starship to attempt first orbital mission with 14th flight

SpaceX’s Starship is set to attempt a major milestone with its 14th flight, as the massive rocket prepares for what would be its first true orbital mission.

The launch window is scheduled to open at 7:15 a.m. Sept. 28.

Don Platt, director of the Spaceport Education Center at Florida Tech, said previous Starship flights have traveled about halfway around the world before splashing down in the Indian Ocean.

“They’re going, finally, to a true orbital mission,” Platt said.

For this flight, Starship is expected to circle Earth six times over about 10 hours as SpaceX tests how the vehicle performs during an extended orbital mission.

Platt described the flight as a checkout mission designed to gather more information about Starship and its performance in space.

“Basically, it’s a check-out flight and gives it a good amount of exposure,” Platt said.

The multiple orbits will also allow SpaceX to further characterize how Starship flies in space. Platt said the testing could provide important information for future missions, including NASA’s Artemis program.

The upcoming flight also has a commercial component. SpaceX says Starship will deploy 26 Starlink satellites into orbit, adding capacity to the company’s satellite internet network.

One of the biggest tests will come when Starship returns to Earth.

The spacecraft is expected to splash down in the Pacific Ocean west of Chile. Platt said the return will put additional stress on Starship’s heat shield because the vehicle will enter the atmosphere at a higher velocity than during previous flights that ended in the Indian Ocean.

“They’re going to have a higher velocity of entry than they had with these simpler tests that have landed in the Indian Ocean,” Platt said. “That’s going to put a great deal more stress on the heat shield and the tile system they’ve been working on for Starship.”

The flight is part of SpaceX’s ongoing effort to test and develop Starship, a vehicle designed for missions ranging from satellite deployment to human spaceflight.

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