SpaceX in the US prepares first orbital Starship flight — CNBC

SpaceX plans to conduct the 14th test flight of its Starship rocket from Starbase in Texas, United States, on Monday. During the mission, the company intends to send the spacecraft into orbit for the first time and fly around Earth, CNBC reports.

Launch window

According to SpaceX, the 75-minute launch window opens at 8:15 a.m. U.S. Eastern Time, or 7:15 a.m. local time. On September 26, the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration issued authorization for Starship Super Heavy Flight 14 launch and reentry operations.

Along with the spacecraft, SpaceX also plans to deploy 26 next-generation Starlink V3 satellites. They are manufactured at SpaceX’s facility in Redmond, Washington. The satellites are equipped with solar panels that generate twice as much power as those of previous generations and are also designed to transmit data to Starlink subscribers faster.

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The rocket’s importance for SpaceX

Starship and the Super Heavy booster are being developed as a fully reusable system capable of delivering more payload to orbit at a lower cost than previous spacecraft. None of the 13 previous test flights involved reaching orbit.

The company expects to use Starship to expand its Starlink satellite business. As of the second quarter, it was SpaceX’s largest and only profitable segment. The company operates about 11,000 active satellites in orbit, while its competitor Eutelsat OneWeb has approximately 650.

SpaceX is also preparing Starship for a major NASA test flight next year and plans to use the rocket to deliver U.S. astronauts to the surface of the Moon.