Washington, September 28, 2026 — The Europe Today: SpaceX is preparing to conduct the first full-scale orbital test flight of its Starship spacecraft, marking a significant stage in the development of the company’s next-generation launch system.
According to SpaceX, the 14th Starship test flight is scheduled for September 28 from the company’s Starbase facility in the Boca Chica area of Texas. A 75-minute launch window is planned to open at 7:15 a.m. local time.
The upcoming mission aims to place Starship into Earth orbit for the first time. Previous Starship flight tests were conducted along suborbital trajectories as part of the vehicle’s development and testing programme.
SpaceX has said that achieving orbit would mark the beginning of the next phase in developing Starship as a fully and rapidly reusable space transportation system. The spacecraft is being developed with the longer-term objective of supporting missions to the Moon and Mars.
During the flight, SpaceX also plans to deploy 26 next-generation Starlink satellites. The mission is expected to test a range of critical systems and provide further data for the continued development of the Starship launch architecture.
The Starship programme is central to SpaceX’s plans for a reusable heavy-lift launch vehicle capable of carrying cargo and, eventually, supporting crewed missions beyond Earth orbit. The company’s latest preparations follow a series of flight tests aimed at progressively demonstrating the vehicle’s capabilities.
