SpaceX plans to launch its 14th Starship mission as early as September 22 for its first orbital flight attempt, pending regulatory approval, Ars Technica reported. The company scheduled liftoff for 7:15 a.m. local time in Texas (12:15 UTC), opening a 75-minute launch window. Sunrise in Brownsville occurs at 7:17 a.m. local time.
The rocket will carry 26 larger V3 Starlink satellites into an orbit 275 kilometers above Earth. SpaceX stated that the upper stage will attempt to complete six orbits before concluding the flight after roughly 10 hours. The V3 payloads are significantly more capable than the V2 mini satellites flown on Falcon 9, and will use onboard propulsion to raise their orbits after separation.
The test marks the first orbital attempt in the Starship development program, which conducted its first test flight on April 20, 2023. SpaceX continues to modify the third iteration of both the Super Heavy booster and the Starship upper stage as it pursues a fully reusable launch vehicle.
Engineers updated the Super Heavy first stage following a July 24 test flight where ice clogged the vehicle's center engines during atmospheric reentry. SpaceX confirmed that three center engines showed ice clogging during the terminal phase of the burn, prompting an early shutdown before eight of 13 planned engines reignited for a hard splashdown in the Gulf of Mexico. The booster now carries hardware filtering modifications alongside software updates to improve relight reliability.
Flight controllers will guide the booster toward a controlled landing in the Gulf of Mexico instead of returning it to the Texas launch site. If the water landing succeeds, SpaceX could attempt a booster catch on the subsequent Starship mission.
The upper stage will also aim for an ocean splashdown rather than returning to Texas, allowing SpaceX to evaluate thermal shield modifications. Following inspections of the vehicle recovered largely intact from the Indian Ocean in July, technicians added retention mechanisms to high-risk tiles, closed pathways where plasma could enter behind the shielding, and added curved tiles to reduce heating in tile gaps.
Two heat shield tiles recovered from Ship 40 will fly on Ship 41, marking the first reuse of tiles on a Starship flight.
