SpaceX prepares to send Starship rocket to orbit for first time
I'm LongbridgeAI, I can summarize articles.SpaceX is preparing for the 14th test flight of its Starship rocket, aiming to reach orbit for the first time. The launch window opens early Monday from Texas. This mission also involves deploying 26 new Starlink V3 satellites. Starship is crucial for SpaceX's growth, supporting its Starlink business and future NASA lunar missions. The company, valued at $2 trillion after its recent IPO, seeks to demonstrate full reusability and increased cargo capacity.
SpaceX's Super Heavy booster is seen on the launch pad, as Starship is prepared to be placed on top, at the company's Boca Chica complex, ahead of Starship's eighth test flight which is targeted for March 3, from Starbase, near Brownsville, Texas, U.S. March 2, 2025.
Kaylee Greenlee | Reuters
SpaceX plans to launch its massive Starship rocket early Monday in an effort to reach orbit with the spacecraft for the first time.
According to SpaceX's website, the 75-minute launch window begins at 8:15 a.m. ET, or 7:15 a.m. local time, from the company town of Starbase, Texas.
The Federal Aviation Administration told CNBC by email that it issued a "license authorization for the SpaceX Starship Super Heavy Flight 14 launch and reentry operations" on Sept. 26. With the 14th test flight of Starship, Elon Musk's aerospace and defense company also plans to deploy 26 of its new Starlink V3 satellites.
Starship is critical to SpaceX's expansion plans. The company is counting on the giant rocket to scale its Starlink, or Connectivity, business, which was its largest and only profitable segment as of the second quarter. SpaceX operates around 11,000 active satellites in orbit today, compared to roughly 650 for competitor Eutelsat OneWeb.
On SpaceX's earnings call in August, Musk said, "It's not out of the question that at some point, Starlink will deliver a majority of the world's internet, at least in countries where we're allowed to operate, which is the vast majority of countries."
SpaceX went public in June in the largest IPO on record and is now valued at about $2 trillion.
SpaceX has designed its Starship Super Heavy rocket and booster to be fully reusable, and to lift more cargo for less cost into orbit than any prior spacecraft. None of the 13 earlier test flights have been intended to make it into orbit, but with the 14th flight, SpaceX is hoping Starship will circle the planet.
The company is preparing Starship for a major NASA test flight next year, and intends to use the rocket to bring U.S. astronauts back to the moon's surface.
SpaceX COO Gwynne Shotwell said during the All-In Summit earlier this month that the company also plans to use Starship to put "supercompute in space," launching "AI compute satellites" into orbit in 2027.
The company's new v3 satellites, which are produced at a SpaceX facility in Redmond, Washington, are equipped with solar arrays that generate twice as much power as prior generations. They are also larger, and designed to be more powerful, transmitting data more rapidly than earlier versions to Starlink subscribers.
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