Unprecedented test flight of massive SpaceX Starship reaches orbit

Taking off from the Starbase facility in Boca Chica, Texas, Starship overcame an unexpected hitch when one of its six upper-stage Raptor engines shut down early during ascent. After a brief assessment, mission controllers gave the "Go for orbit," and the remaining engines burned longer to successfully insert the spacecraft into orbit. Once in space, Starship successfully deployed all 26 next-generation Starlink V3 satellites. This marks Starship's first-ever delivery of an operational, revenue-generating payload. These upgraded satellites feature direct-to-cell capabilities and roughly 10 times the downlink capacity of previous versions. The original mission profile called for a 10-hour flight completing six full orbits around Earth. However, following the engine anomalies, SpaceX mission managers elected to cut the flight short after roughly two orbits. Instead of splashing down near Chile after 10 hours, Starship initiated an early deorbit burn for a controlled splashdown in the North Pacific Ocean near Hawaii roughly three hours into the mission. The Super Heavy booster (Booster 21) successfully separated from the upper stage via hot-staging and executed a controlled landing burn to splash down safely in the Gulf of Mexico.