SpaceX targets September 22 for Starship test, eyes first orbital flight

SpaceX said on Tuesday it was preparing to ​launch its next Starship flight test as soon as September 22, a mission expected to send the vehicle into orbit for the first time ‌and deploy Starlink V3 ​satellites.

 

Starship's 14th test ​flight would mark a major leap ​in the rocket's development over its last test in July, which flew a suborbital trajectory that took the spacecraft into space ​before returning it to Earth without completing ‌an orbit.

 

The company plans to place Starship ​into orbit around Earth, a milestone that would allow it to test the vehicle over a longer-duration ‌flight and deploy ​the first batch ‌of Starlink V3 satellites.

 

 

The mission, pending regulatory ‌approval, is expected to last nearly 10 hours, ​with Starship flying about 275 km above Earth and completing about six ​orbits before splashing down in the Pacific Ocean west of Chile.

 

SpaceX plans ‌to test the booster's launch, separation, boostback and ‌splashdown procedures, advancing the company toward its goal of a fully reusable orbital launch system.