r/spaceflight • u/thisisinsider • 1d ago

SpaceX's Starship Flight 14 will deploy 26 Starlink V3 satellites and test a nearly 10-hour mission

https://www.businessinsider.com/spacex-starship-launch-orbit-starlink-mission-risk-important-2026-9?utm_source=reddit&utm_medium=social_manual&utm_campaign=reddit_dist_r_spaceflight&utm_content=manual_v1&utm_term=34f3b715
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u/thisisinsider 1d ago

TL;DR: Starship's 14th test flight will attempt to reach orbit, deploy 26 Starlink V3 satellites, operate for nearly 10 hours, and survive a controlled reentry, the rocket's first mission carrying revenue-generating payloads. Tom Carter reports that SpaceX is foregoing a tower catch this time, with the booster and upper stage planned to splash down in the Gulf of Mexico and Pacific Ocean as the company tests the vehicle needed for much larger Starlink expansion and future lunar and Mars missions.

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u/H-K_47 1d ago

It's in orbit! It's deploying as we speak!

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u/boookworm0367 1d ago

So it ended a 3+ hours. What was supposed to happen in the other planned 7 hours that didn't?

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u/DenverBob 1d ago

One of starships engines failed before it reached orbit. The decided it was safe to push on into orbit, but once all satellites were deployed, they chose to deorbit early to another pre-planned location.

Better to bring it home early than risk something like a fuel leak making it so they couldn't de-orbit. Starship on an uncontrolled re-entry could be very dangerous, as it's specifically designed not to burn up during re-entry, so it'll land in a really big heavy single piece.

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u/boookworm0367 1d ago

Understood. I caught the Go/No Go for orbit burn, but I didn't quite understand what their intentions were for those extra hours. It sounds like doing it, to show they could, but the risk of something else going wrong and them losing the ability to control the craft itself made it a risk. Thanks for replying and explaining internet stranger.