SpaceX launches giant Starship rocket on first mission to orbit Earth

American aerospace company SpaceX launched its massive Starship rocket on Monday from its facility in Texas, marking the vehicle’s first operational mission to deploy satellites into Earth's orbit.

The launch from the company’s Starbase facility in South Texas was the 14th flight of the Starship system, but the first intended to reach orbit. The previous 13 flights followed suborbital trajectories.

The mission is carrying 26 next-generation Starlink Version 3 satellites, which SpaceX plans to deploy during the flight. The satellites are designed to provide greater capacity for Starlink, the company’s satellite internet service.

Starship is the largest rocket developed by SpaceX and is designed to be fully reusable. The vehicle consists of a first-stage booster called Super Heavy and an upper-stage spacecraft called Starship.

SpaceX is developing the system to carry satellites, cargo and eventually people into Earth's orbit, as well as to support future missions to the Moon and Mars.

The spacecraft is expected to circle Earth about six times during a flight of nearly 10 hours before firing an engine to leave orbit and splash down into the Pacific Ocean west of Chile.

The company has said Starship will be needed to launch its larger Starlink satellites, which are intended to increase the capacity of its growing satellite internet network.

The flight also represents a major test of Starship’s ability to move beyond repeated suborbital test flights toward regular orbital missions.

SpaceX, founded by billionaire Elon Musk, plans to utilize Starship for future deep-space missions, including NASA's Artemis program aimed at returning astronauts to the Moon, as well as eventual crewed flights to Mars.