After 13 test flights that never reached orbit, SpaceX's giant rocket is going for it Monday. Here's the time, the plan and how to watch.
The 75-minute window opens Monday, Sept. 28 at 8:15 a.m. ET (5:15 a.m. PT). SpaceX streams it on its website and X account, starting about 35 minutes early.
All 13 earlier Starship flights were suborbital, arcing up and back down. Flight 14 is planned as the first to actually reach orbit.
The stack is Super Heavy Booster 21 topped by Ship 41, standing 407 feet tall. It cleared a full wet dress rehearsal on Sept. 24.
Flight 14 launches from Starbase near Brownsville, Texas, on the site's second orbital pad, Pad B. The date already slipped once, from Sept. 22.
Ship 41 carries 26 Starlink V3 satellites, adding about 26 Tbps of network capacity, roughly what 10 Falcon 9 launches of today's satellites deliver.
About 25 minutes after liftoff the ship should reach orbit near 171 miles up, then circle Earth about six times over nearly 10 hours.
Three of the satellites carry cameras to photograph the ship's heat shield tiles, then Ship 41 fires a deorbit burn for a controlled reentry.
Booster 21 is not being caught. It will do a landing burn and splash down offshore in the Gulf. Musk says a ship catch is likely a few months away.
As of Sept. 25 the FAA had not issued the launch license. A flight restriction runs through Oct. 7, so a slip past Monday is possible.
If Ship 41 makes orbit, Starship starts real delivery runs. SpaceX plans to fly 60 Starlink V3 satellites per mission on later flights.