Starship reaches orbit for the first time with 26 Starlink

SpaceX's Super Heavy-lift rocket Starship reached Earth orbit for the first time during its third test flight of the V3 version. Despite losing one of six Raptor engines after stage separation, the mission was successfully completed.

SpaceX placed all 26 third-generation Starlink satellites into orbit. A single launch of this rocket adds capacity to the network equivalent to 20 launches of previous V2 mini-satellites.

• V3 version has been tested since May 2026
• Super Heavy booster simulated landing in the Gulf of Mexico
• Company shares rose by more than 1% following the success

Starship is critical for NASA lunar missions and the concept of orbital data centers. Elon Musk plans to launch the rocket thousands of times per year, with infrastructure investments already exceeding $100 billion.