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| Starlink V3 satellite launch from SpaceX Starship |
SpaceX has officially crossed a threshold that felt like science fiction only a few years ago. The company’s Starship—the largest rocket ever built—has reached orbit for the first time. The inaugural orbital flight also carried the first batch of Starlink V3 satellites, a new generation designed to deliver gigabit satellite internet speeds to existing users. When fully unfurled, each V3 satellite is roughly the size of a Boeing 737.
The mission was a resounding success despite some weather-related hesitation early on. Starlink has now made contact with all 26 satellites from that first launch. Even this single trial run is expected to increase Starlink’s network capacity by about 3%. SpaceX plans to keep filling its reusable Starship with more V3 satellites until the constellation scales enough to support a standalone Starlink Mobile 5G carrier service, one that could connect directly to cell phones on the ground.
Flight 14: From Suborbital Tests to Full Orbit
Starship’s Flight 14 lifted off from Starbase, Texas, and reached orbit. That may sound like a small step, but it is a huge leap compared with earlier Starship test flights, which were suborbital and lasted around an hour. In July, Flight 13 released 20 V3 satellites on suborbital trajectories, and those satellites burned up in the atmosphere about 20 minutes later. This time, the flight is planned to last several hours, with multiple orbits at roughly 275 km before splashing down in the Pacific Ocean west of Chile.
Ship 41 is tasked with deploying 26 V3 satellites, performing a deorbit burn with a single Raptor engine, and then attempting a controlled reentry. You can follow SpaceX’s official mission updates here: SpaceX’s post on X.
Each Starlink V3 satellite adds 1 Tbps of capacity—10 times more than the previous V2 generation. But that extra power comes with extra size. Each V3 satellite weighs about two tons, which is why Falcon 9 was never going to launch them in useful numbers. Elon Musk has claimed that the full V3 constellation will eventually deliver more than 100 times the bandwidth of the current network, which already includes around 11,000 satellites.
Cameras, Reentry, and the Future of Reusability
Three of the satellites carry cameras that will scan Starship’s heatshield and beam imagery back to engineers. That is a step toward one day returning the ship to its launch site. If everything checks out, Starlink business subscribers could start using the new satellites with their Performance Gen 3 dishes within a few weeks.
For now, the key test is whether Ship 41 survives reentry and splashes down as planned. Booster 21 was tasked with a boostback burn at an offshore point in the Gulf. According to SpaceX, “Flight teams will deorbit Starship safely to our pre-cleared area of the Pacific Ocean after 3 hours in orbit.” If today’s goals are met, SpaceX plans to try catching the upper stage on a future flight—a move that would mark a new era for space exploration.
Why This Milestone Matters
Starship’s first orbital flight is not just about one rocket or one batch of satellites. It is a proof point for reusable heavy-lift spaceflight, for next-generation satellite internet, and for SpaceX’s long-term ambition to make space access routine. If Starlink V3 performs as expected, the company could dramatically expand bandwidth, improve service for existing users, and lay the groundwork for direct-to-cell connectivity at scale. For now, all eyes are on Ship 41’s reentry—and whether SpaceX can turn today’s success into a repeatable, reusable future.
Starship has begun deploying its payload of 26 @Starlink V3 satellites. This deployment sequence will take ~30 minutes pic.twitter.com/ycIdAx5Lbe
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) September 28, 2026