SpaceX will try to put Starship in orbit for the first time on September 22
TechCrunch
β’Tue, 15 Sep 2026 18:16:07 +0000
π° What Happened
SpaceX said on Tuesday it is ready to perform the 14th test flight of its Starship mega-rocket on September 22, with a 75-minute launch window opening at 7:15 a.m. CT, and will for the first time try to place the upper stage into Earth orbit. During the flight the company plans to deploy the first batch of third-generation Starlink satellites, expecting to release 26 V3 satellites into its network of roughly 10,000 internet satellites. If successful, it would be the first Starship launch to generate revenue for SpaceX's launch division, even though that revenue would come from another division of the same company. It is the second Starship test since SpaceX became publicly traded in June in what the article describes as the largest IPO in history; the July flight deployed V3 Starlinks for the first time, but those were test units that burned up in the atmosphere after about 20 minutes. Founder and CEO Elon Musk has said Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy will be retired once Starship is flying reliably several times per week.
π The Backstory
Starship is the fully reusable vehicle SpaceX has been developing for years at substantial cost, intended to carry Starlink payloads and eventually crew and cargo beyond low Earth orbit. The programme has advanced through increasingly ambitious test flights, including booster recovery attempts, with failures and redesigns along the way. The Starlink constellation the company wants to expand already numbers roughly 10,000 satellites, and the larger V3 spacecraft require Starship's greater capacity. The June listing brought public-market scrutiny to a development programme that has consumed billions of dollars.
π― Why It Matters
Reaching orbit would mark the point at which Starship begins doing commercial work rather than serving as a test vehicle, and it is the precondition for retiring the Falcon line. A successful launch carrying paying Starlink payloads also matters to SpaceX's public shareholders, who have underwritten a costly development programme. Failure would delay both the Starlink expansion and the company's plans for a much higher launch cadence. For competitors and regulators, a working Starship changes the economics and scale of what can be put into orbit.
SpaceX said on Tuesday it is ready to perform the 14th test flight of its Starship mega-rocket on September 22, with a 75-minute launch window opening at 7:15 a.m. CT, and will for the first time try to place the upper stage into Earth orbit. During the flight the company plans to deploy the first batch of third-generation Starlink satellites, expecting to release 26 V3 satellites into its network of roughly 10,000 internet satellites. If successful, it would be the first Starship launch to generate revenue for SpaceX's launch division, even though that revenue would come from another division of the same company. It is the second Starship test since SpaceX became publicly traded in June in what the article describes as the largest IPO in history; the July flight deployed V3 Starlinks for the first time, but those were test units that burned up in the atmosphere after about 20 minutes. Founder and CEO Elon Musk has said Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy will be retired once Starship is flying reliably several times per week.
Starship is the fully reusable vehicle SpaceX has been developing for years at substantial cost, intended to carry Starlink payloads and eventually crew and cargo beyond low Earth orbit. The programme has advanced through increasingly ambitious test flights, including booster recovery attempts, with failures and redesigns along the way. The Starlink constellation the company wants to expand already numbers roughly 10,000 satellites, and the larger V3 spacecraft require Starship's greater capacity. The June listing brought public-market scrutiny to a development programme that has consumed billions of dollars.
Reaching orbit would mark the point at which Starship begins doing commercial work rather than serving as a test vehicle, and it is the precondition for retiring the Falcon line. A successful launch carrying paying Starlink payloads also matters to SpaceX's public shareholders, who have underwritten a costly development programme. Failure would delay both the Starlink expansion and the company's plans for a much higher launch cadence. For competitors and regulators, a working Starship changes the economics and scale of what can be put into orbit.