SpaceX launches Starship test flight as company pushes satellite and reusability goals

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SpaceX Starship test and reusability

Highlights

SpaceX launches Starship test flight from Starbase, Texas at 4:47 p.m. local time after receiving same-day FAA authorization, skipping booster catch for ocean splashdown.
Starship deploys 26 Starlink v3 satellites, with each launch capable of carrying up to 60, enabling SpaceX's Starlink to reach more than 11,000 active satellites in low Earth orbit.
SpaceX faces criticism and U.S. congressional scrutiny after President Zelenskyy reports unannounced Starshield service restrictions impacting Ukraine's defense against Russian attacks.

Test flight objectives and regulatory backdrop

As first reported by CNBC, SpaceX launches the vehicle on Friday after receiving authorization earlier in the day from the Federal Aviation Administration. The flight lifts off from Starbase, Texas, at 4:47 p.m. local time, or 5:47 p.m. ET, and marks the company’s first attempt to catch both the Super Heavy booster and the upper-stage Starship spacecraft at the launch site.

Hours after granting that authorization, the FAA issues a nationwide ground stop after reporting communication problems affecting multiple air traffic control centers. A spokesperson tells CNBC that the SpaceX license is not affected by that flight stoppage.

SpaceX, which begins Starship test flights in 2023, aborts plans to catch and reuse the booster during this mission and instead diverts it to a splashdown in the ocean. Even so, the outcome remains important for the company’s long-term effort to build a fully reusable heavy-lift system for missions to the Moon and Mars.

Starlink expansion and wider pressure on SpaceX

Beyond the flight test itself, SpaceX plans to release a batch of new Starlink v3 satellites into orbit. The company says its low Earth orbit constellation already includes more than 11,000 active satellites, and one Starship can carry as many as 60 Starlink v3 satellites, about 20 times the capacity of earlier Falcon 9 rockets.

In the previous Starship test flight, SpaceX releases 26 Starlink v3 satellites, and it plans to release another 26 in Friday’s mission. In a post on X, the company says the goal is for Starlink to become 51% of the internet.

William Blair analysts write in a Friday note that SpaceX is likely a full decade ahead of peers in launches. They add that even if the catch attempt is unsuccessful, a delay of a few months is not especially consequential.

At the same time, the company faces renewed criticism over restrictions on its Starshield satellite internet service in Ukraine. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says earlier this week that Ukrainian forces again experience limits on Starshield without warning, hurting their ability to defend against Russia’s ongoing aerial attacks, and some U.S. senators urge Congress to investigate SpaceX.

The latest update follows our earlier article on the FAA ground stop that disrupted United Airlines departures nationwide.

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