SpaceX wins FAA license for Starship's first orbital flight

updates

• 2026-09-27The FAA issued Starship Flight 14's launch license late on Sept. 26, covering an orbital profile for the first time; SpaceX's Ship 41 is set to fly roughly six orbits at about 275 km, deploying 26 Starlink V3 satellites, in a flight unde...
• 2026-09-26Booster 21 and Ship 41 rolled out and completed a full-stack wet dress rehearsal, loading both stages with propellant, with the countdown proceeding to just before engine ignition before a planned deluge-triggered stop; SpaceX said teams...
• 2026-09-17SpaceX pushed back the target launch date for Starship Flight 14, the vehicle's first attempt at a real orbital insertion after 13 suborbital test flights, from Sept. 22 to Sept. 28, saying only that the mission is 'pending regulatory ap...
• 2026-09-15SpaceX confirmed Sept. 22 as the target date for Starship Flight 14, the vehicle's first attempt at a real orbital insertion after 13 suborbital test flights, per the company's own mission description reported by Ars Technica and Space.com.
• 2026-09-11SpaceX CFO Bret Johnsen told investors at Goldman Sachs' Communacopia and Technology Conference on Sept. 10 that Flight 14, coming later in September, will be the company's first revenue-generating Starship mission as it carries producti...