Starship Flight 14: First Orbit and 26 V3 Starlink Satellites

SpaceX's Starship Flight 14 took the ship into orbit for the first time, reaching 170 miles above the Earth, and deployed 26 V3 Starlink satellites. The flight was uncrewed.

Ascent and staging

About 35 seconds into the flight, 33 of 33 engines were lit on Super Heavy. After max Q, the point of maximum aerodynamic pressure, one of the center 13 engines went out and the booster kept flying on 32 of 33.

At hot staging, the six ship engines lit while the ship was still attached to the booster, and the clamps between the two vehicles released. The booster's boostback started with 31 of 33 engines and finished with three. Another two of the center 13 engines had gone out, and the commentators said that as long as 11 relit, the landing burn could be nominal.

Booster return

The booster did not attempt a tower catch, but simulated one: a 13-engine landing burn, then five engines, then three for the final hover. It made a soft splashdown off the coast of Starbase.

The decision to go to orbit

On the ship, engine six, one of the RVACs, shut down early. The ship has engine-out capability and kept running on five of six engines, a situation compared to Flight 12, when an RVAC was out on the first flight of V3. The commentators said SpaceX would commit to orbit only if everything looked healthy, and that an engine out on ascent could lead to a decision not to commit. After the ship's engine cutoff the team polled for orbit, and the result was go.

Orbit and return

A single Raptor burned for about 19 seconds for the orbital insertion burn, with no alerts or alarms, and Starship was declared in orbit. A single Raptor then performed the deorbit burn, putting the ship on a path to splash down in the northern Pacific. The landing burn started with all three engines, went to two, then one for a constant-velocity hover before splashdown. The mission plan called for the deployment of the 26 Starlink satellites and a coast of six orbits before the entry, descent and landing.

After the landing, the commentators said the deployment animation shown on earlier test flights had become reality.