SpaceX's Starship launches on 14th flight, first aimed at orbit

SpaceX's SPCX.O next-generation Starship rocket lifted off from Texas on Monday for its debut flight to orbit and first operational release of satellites, marking its 14th launch ahead of a routine service that Elon Musk's company expects to begin later this year.

The uncrewed 40-story-tall vehicle, consisting of a Super Heavy booster rocket topped by the main upper-stage Starship vessel, thundered off its launch pad at around 7:46 a.m. CT (1246 GMT) from SpaceX's Starbase complex along the Gulf of Mexico near Brownsville.

Starship, built to launch SpaceX's Starlink satellites more frequently and carry future NASA missions to the moon, was expected to complete six Earth orbits during a 10-hour voyage — its longest yet — before splashing down in the Pacific Ocean west of Chile.

Reaching orbit, a primary benchmark for any new rocket designed to deliver payloads to space, has been a long-delayed feat for Starship, which Musk once predicted would be achieved in 2022, to be followed by satellite deployments in 2023.

Since 2023, however, all 13 of Starship's previous test flights have been limited to suborbital space, despite a nearly decade-long development campaign that has cost SpaceX more than $15 billion to date. Musk has said he envisions ultimately flying hundreds or thousands of Starships a year, a launch pace unprecedented in the space industry.

-Reporting by Joey Roulette; Editing by Christian Plumb/Reuters