Starship has never flown an orbital mission. Flight 14 carries 26 Starlink V3 satellites on Sept 28. Will all 26 deploy by Oct 2?
78% of users predicted NO — the community missed this one. 9 predictions cast.
SpaceX's Starship Flight 14 reached orbit and deployed all 26 Starlink V3 satellites on Sept. 28, the rocket's first fully successful orbital mission after 13 prior flights that never reached orbit. The ship launched from Starbase, Texas, at 8:46 a.m. EDT, released the satellites into a roughly 262-by-275-kilometer orbit, then completed a controlled deorbit burn and ocean splashdown; the Super Heavy booster also completed a soft landing offshore.
Each V3 Starlink satellite weighs about 2,000 kilograms, meaning Starship carried a record payload of roughly 52,000 kilograms on this flight, demonstrating the heavy-lift capacity SpaceX needs for its Starlink expansion and future NASA lunar missions. Three of the satellites carried cameras to monitor the ship's heat shield during reentry, data SpaceX says it will use to help decide when to begin catching and reusing ships at the launch site.
Only 22% of Predict Six forecasters predicted a clean 26-for-26 deployment, reflecting Starship's long run of setbacks during development. The community was wrong here, and the flight marked a turning point after more than a year of explosions and failed reentries for the vehicle.