SpaceX’s Starship rocket reached Earth orbit for the first time on Monday, successfully deploying all 26 Starlink V3 satellites it carried, despite losing one of its six Raptor engines during ascent. The launch, which began at 9:11 a.m. ET, marked a milestone for the company’s flagship vehicle and its largest business line.
During the ascent, one Raptor engine failed, but the vehicle completed its burn and coasted on a “passively safe suborbital trajectory.” Engineers checked the ship’s systems before the company issued a “Go for orbit!” call at 9:11 a.m. ET. A single Raptor engine then performed the orbital insertion burn, placing Starship into a roughly 275‑kilometre orbit.
After the burn, the Super‑Heavy booster 21 separated from Starship and splashed down in the Gulf of Mexico. The payload, 26 Starlink V3 satellites, was released through a side door over a 30‑minute sequence, with each satellite capable of more than 1 terabit per second of downlink capacity.
Starship’s first operational payload to orbit is a key step for SpaceX’s plan to expand the Starlink network. The V3 satellites are too large for Falcon 9, the company’s workhorse rocket, and are designed to take advantage of Starship’s larger payload capacity.
The flight also came at a time when SpaceX is a public company, placing its rocket programme under investor scrutiny. The company’s stock fell 2.2% on Monday, in line with broader technology trade movements.
Earlier, SpaceX highlighted its broader ambitions, noting it was “building the infrastructure of the future, from supercomputers to Terafab to Gigasat to a new Starbase in Louisiana.” The company’s AI compute business has recently helped lift the stock after it dipped below $100 shortly after its IPO.
<small>Source: Yahoo News — read the original story there.</small>