Elon Musk-led SpaceX launched its Super Heavy rocket and Starship spacecraft from Starbase on Monday, with the mission aiming to take Starship into orbit around Earth for the first time.
The 407-foot Starship is designed with two fully reusable stages, the Super Heavy booster and the Ship upper stage. The company describes rapid reusability as a major goal for the rocket’s development.
Starship has begun deploying its payload of 26 @Starlink V3 satellites. This deployment sequence will take ~30 minutes pic.twitter.com/ycIdAx5Lbe
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) September 28, 2026
The mission also marks the first deployment of 26 Starlink V3 satellites. SpaceX says the next-generation satellites are designed to significantly increase network capacity, data density and power generation, with up to 1 Tbps of downlink and 160 Gbps of uplink capacity.
The mission is planned to reach an altitude of about 275 kilometres and complete around six orbits during a nearly 10-hour flight. The spacecraft is expected to splash down in the Pacific Ocean west of Chile.
Key objectives include orbital insertion, Starlink deployment, a deorbit burn using one Raptor engine and controlled reentry.
The Super Heavy booster is also expected to perform stage separation, boostback and a landing burn toward an offshore landing point in the Gulf of America.
After deployment, the satellites will unfold their antennas and solar arrays before raising their orbits with onboard thrusters.
