Why SpaceX’s Starship orbital flight test is historic

Elon Musk’s SpaceX is attempting a historic mission on Monday morning, as it aims to send its Starship rocket into orbit for the first time. Musk is looking to break records with Starship’s first orbital flight test by sending the world’s largest and most powerful rocket into orbit. SpaceX is aiming for about six orbits around Earth and is expected to deploy 26 of its newest Starlink satellites during the mission, which is set to last for around 10 hours. The Starship rocket is set to travel about 17,500 mph, more than 170 miles above Earth, after launching from SpaceX’s facilities in Starbase, Texas. Recommended Stories The 75-minute launch window began at 8:15 a.m. ET, or 7:15 a.m. local time, from Starbase. If successful, the mission would mark an operational milestone for Starship as the world’s first fully and rapidly reusable rocket to make it around the planet. Starship’s orbit could also be notable, as it is expected to advance Musk’s hopes of using Starship to scale Starlink and fuel his expansion of SpaceX’s vision. “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,” Musk said on SpaceX’s earnings call in August. The mission is poised to be a major step forward in SpaceX’s testing campaign to orbit the planet, with the latest endeavor marking the company’s 14th test flight and its first attempt to reach Earth’s orbit. If the 10-hour flight is successful and the giant rocket survives the trip back to Earth, splashing down in the Pacific Ocean west of Chile, it would mark a feat of engineering genius, advancing Musk’s dreams of creating the world’s first fully and rapidly reusable rocket, dramatically cutting costs for space operations. Seagulls fly near the site of SpaceX’s mega rocket Starship as it is prepared for a test flight from Starbase, Texas, Sunday, Sept. 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Eric Gay) NEWLY UNCOVERED OPENAI ATTACKS PUT MORE PRESSURE ON GLOBAL LEADERS TO FIND A WAY FORWARD“It is so preposterously difficult that there are times when I wonder whether we can actually do this,” Musk said at the CEO Council Summit in 2021.“Most engineering lets you buy a weakness in one place with strength somewhere else,” he noted. “If full and rapid reusability can be achieved, it reduces the cost of access to orbit by a factor of 100 or more.”