SpaceX Achieves First Orbital Flight of Super Heavy-Starship Rocket

SpaceX executed its inaugural orbital flight of the Super Heavy-Starship system on Monday, representing a pivotal advancement in efforts to master the world’s most potent launch vehicle. The mission supports goals for commercial operations and NASA’s upcoming Artemis lunar landings.

Following 13 prior suborbital test flights, this orbital attempt is a key indicator of readiness for both SpaceX and NASA. Successfully placing the Starship into orbit and returning it is essential for validating the system’s capability before the planned 2028 Artemis moon landing.

The Artemis missions will rely on multiple Super Heavy-Starship tanker flights to refuel the lander in orbit before it docks with a NASA Orion capsule, retrieves two astronauts from lunar orbit, and returns them safely to Earth. Achieving a safe orbital insertion positions SpaceX to demonstrate autonomous refueling techniques, a capability never before required at such a scale.

The Super Heavy booster’s 33 Raptor engines, which burn methane, ignited at 8:48 a.m. EDT from SpaceX’s Starbase facility on the Texas Gulf Coast. The 400-foot-tall rocket generated approximately 16 million pounds of thrust—double that of NASA’s Space Launch System—accelerating rapidly as it shed weight and climbed through the lower atmosphere on a southeasterly path.

Approximately two minutes and 20 seconds after liftoff, the first stage initiated a “hot staging” sequence. The six Raptor engines on the Starship upper stage fired while still attached, allowing the booster to separate and fall away. The Super Heavy stage then reversed course, restarted its engines, and performed a controlled vertical splashdown a few miles off the Texas coast using 13 engines.

During the initial phase of the 10-hour, six-orbit mission, the Starship upper stage deployed 26 third-generation Starlink satellites. This marks only the second time the new rocket has been used for operational satellite deployment.

The previous test flight encountered engine failures that prevented a full boost-back burn, resulting in a hard splashdown with only eight of 13 engines firing during landing. SpaceX has since implemented software and hardware upgrades to improve reliability for this mission.

While the first stage is designed to be caught by mechanical arms on the launch gantry—a maneuver completed four times previously—SpaceX opted for an ocean splashdown to test further improvements. The Starship upper stage is also designed for pad capture but has not yet attempted this procedure.

Following the booster’s separation, the Starship performed two engine firings to reach an orbit 180 miles high. The first burn placed it on a sub-orbital trajectory as a safety measure, while a second 11-second burn, if systems remained healthy, inserted the craft into stable orbit.

Approximately 8.5 minutes after orbital insertion, a dispenser in the rocket’s nose released the 26 next-generation Starlink satellites, each boasting ten times the capacity of previous models. After deployment, the Starship will circle the planet six times before executing a de-orbit burn nearly nine hours after launch.

During re-entry, the Starship will descend belly-first through the atmosphere, slowing within a plasma fireball. It will use its fins and flaps to manage orientation before three Raptor engines reignite for a tail-first splashdown off the coast of Chile, completing the 9-hour-50-minute mission.

SpaceX operates two launch pads at its Texas Starbase facility and is constructing two additional pads in Florida at Kennedy Space Center’s historic Pad 39A and the adjacent Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. Initial Florida launches are slated for late this year or early next.

For the Artemis program, SpaceX is developing a 165-foot-tall Starship variant to serve as the human landing system. NASA plans to send four astronauts in an Orion capsule during Artemis III next year to rendezvous with prototype landers from both SpaceX and Blue Origin.

Despite SpaceX’s ambitions, industry observers remain skeptical about delivering a certified human-rated lander by 2028. NASA is mitigating this risk by funding an alternative lander from Blue Origin. SpaceX must accelerate its test schedule to prove reliability for launching over a dozen tankers within days of the lander’s deployment.