SpaceX Starship Reaches Earth Orbit on First Attempt but Returns Early Due to Engine Failures
On September 28, at 7:48 a.m. Central time, SpaceX's Starship took off from Texas, achieving Earth orbit on its inaugural flight. Instead of the intended six orbits, the spacecraft completed two. During the ascent, one of the 33 engines on the booster malfunctioned, and another failed to reignite. Dan Huot, SpaceX's communications manager, stated, "we are go for orbit." After approximately three hours, Starship deployed 26 Starlink satellites and landed in the northern Pacific Ocean. Martin Barstow remarked on the event as "an important milestone for SpaceX." Developed by Elon Musk's SpaceX, Starship stands 407 feet tall and its success influences NASA's Artemis program, with Artemis 3 scheduled for 2027 and Artemis 4 for early 2028.
Key facts
- Starship launched from Texas on September 28 at 7:48 a.m. Central time and reached Earth orbit on its first attempt.
- The spacecraft orbited Earth twice instead of the planned six times due to engine problems.
- One of the booster's 33 engines failed during ascent, and another failed to reignite during a return maneuver.
- One of Starship's six engines shut down, forcing a go/no-go decision to continue to orbit.
- Starship released 26 Starlink satellites and splashed down in the northern Pacific Ocean after about three hours.
- The Kármán line, roughly 50 to 62 miles above sea level, defines the boundary to Earth orbit.
- Starship is a 407-foot-tall reusable system developed by SpaceX, founded by Elon Musk.
- NASA's Artemis 3 mission, slated for 2027, will use lunar landers from SpaceX and Blue Origin; Artemis 4 may land humans on the moon as soon as early 2028.
Entities
Artists
- Elon Musk
- Jeff Bezos
- Dan Huot
- Martin Barstow
- Dean Sladen
- Don Platt
- Ian Sample
- Kenneth Chang
- Brendan Byrne
- Steve Gorman
- Akash Sriram
- Joey Roulette
- Margherita Bassi
Institutions
- SpaceX
- NASA
- Blue Origin
- University of Leicester
- Accu Components
- Florida Institute of Technology
- Central Florida Public Media
- The Guardian
- The New York Times
- Reuters
- Starlink
- Smithsonian Magazine
- Federal Aviation Administration
- CNBC
Locations
- Texas
- United States
- Earth
- Pacific Ocean
- England
- United Kingdom
- Florida
- Italy
- New Jersey
- Moon
- Mars
- South Texas
- Starbase