Updated 5:50 PM EDT
Mon September 28, 2026
What we covered here
• Mission wins: SpaceX’s Starship, the most powerful rocket ever made, launched from Starbase, Texas, Monday, and the ship portion of the launch system reached orbit. All 26 operational Starlink satellites were deployed.
• Engine trouble: Because one of the Starship spacecraft’s Raptor vacuum engines shut down prematurely, SpaceX decided to cut the mission short.
• Dramatic splashdown: The Starship spacecraft survived its scorching journey back through Earth’s atmosphere before practicing a controlled landing burn in the Pacific Ocean. The splashdown wasn’t as soft as the one seen in July during the previous flight, causing a massive fireball over the water.
• Looking ahead: NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman congratulated SpaceX on its success so far following the launch. SpaceX is facing intense pressure to get Starship ready for a crucial NASA test flight next year that could pave the way for the next moon landing.
1 hr 30 min ago
We’ve wrapped our live coverage of SpaceX Starship’s first orbital test flight. Keep following along with CNN’s space reporting here.
Starship is the biggest rocket ever created — by far.
The towering megarocket stands at nearly 400 feet (121 meters) tall and, with the debut of Version 3, packs around 18 million pounds of force at liftoff.
Here’s how it stacks up to some of the largest rockets ever constructed, past and present.
• Mission wins: SpaceX’s Starship, the most powerful rocket ever made, launched from Starbase, Texas, Monday, and the ship portion of the launch system reached orbit. All 26 operational Starlink satellites were deployed.
• Engine trouble: Because one of the Starship spacecraft’s Raptor vacuum engines shut down prematurely, SpaceX decided to cut the mission short.
• Dramatic splashdown: The Starship spacecraft survived its scorching journey back through Earth’s atmosphere before practicing a controlled landing burn in the Pacific Ocean. The splashdown wasn’t as soft as the one seen in July during the previous flight, causing a massive fireball over the water.
• Looking ahead: NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman congratulated SpaceX on its success so far following the launch. SpaceX is facing intense pressure to get Starship ready for a crucial NASA test flight next year that could pave the way for the next moon landing.
1 hr 30 min ago
We’ve wrapped our live coverage of SpaceX Starship’s first orbital test flight. Keep following along with CNN’s space reporting here.
2 hr 25 min ago
NASA chief acknowledges SpaceX is retiring Falcon to focus on Starship
By Jackie Wattles
NASA administrator Jared Isaacman on Monday helmed a news conference to discuss the future of Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft — a particularly beleaguered vehicle.
You may remember Starliner as the vehicle that launched astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams on a botched test mission to the International Space Station in 2024. The spacecraft’s poor performance turned what was supposed to be a week-long mission into a nine-month ordeal that attracted international attention.
Ultimately, SpaceX’s Crew Dragon capsule had to step in to bring Williams and Wilmore back home.
But here’s the thing: Now that SpaceX is getting its Starship vehicle up and running, it wants to retire its Falcon rockets and Dragon capsules. That could leave Boeing’s troubled Starliner as the only option for getting astronauts to low-Earth orbit. (Starship is designed for missions much deeper into space.)
“I do not think it’s a secret that SpaceX intends to sunset older platforms like Falcon and Dragon as they concentrate on their next-generation capability, Starship, which just had a significant milestone today as it reached orbit, and is paramount to America’s ability to return to the moon, our ambitions on the lunar surface itself, including a moon base,” Isaacman said Monday.
Isaacman acknowledged that Starship presents other opportunities, “from carrying brand new telescopes for science and discovery to national security applications to the orbital economy.”
But getting astronauts to the ISS is still a priority. And Isaacman and other NASA officials on Monday laid out a new road map for getting Starliner fixed and working as intended.
The agency said Starliner could make an uncrewed test flight in December, followed by another flight with astronauts as soon as mid-2028.
3 hr 1 min ago
Why Starship's cruise was cut short
By Ashley Strickland
SpaceX Starship in space during test flight 14. From SpaceX
In a statement on Flight 14 posted to the company’s website, SpaceX confirmed why flight controllers opted to bring the ship home sooner than expected.
As Starship ascended on its climb to space, one of the spacecraft’s Raptor vacuum engines shut down prematurely.
Starship was still able to reach orbit for the first time, burning the five other Raptor engines for longer to achieve enough thrust for its trajectory.
But as the spacecraft entered its cruise, called the coast phase, around Earth, Starship’s flight control team made a decision regarding the rest of the original 10-hour flight plan, paring it back to about three hours.
“Out of an abundance of caution given the engine issue experienced during ascent, the flight control team decided to limit the duration spent on orbit and proceeded with deorbiting Starship to a splashdown location in the northern Pacific Ocean,” according to the release shared post-flight by SpaceX.
NASA chief acknowledges SpaceX is retiring Falcon to focus on Starship
By Jackie Wattles
NASA administrator Jared Isaacman on Monday helmed a news conference to discuss the future of Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft — a particularly beleaguered vehicle.
You may remember Starliner as the vehicle that launched astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams on a botched test mission to the International Space Station in 2024. The spacecraft’s poor performance turned what was supposed to be a week-long mission into a nine-month ordeal that attracted international attention.
Ultimately, SpaceX’s Crew Dragon capsule had to step in to bring Williams and Wilmore back home.
But here’s the thing: Now that SpaceX is getting its Starship vehicle up and running, it wants to retire its Falcon rockets and Dragon capsules. That could leave Boeing’s troubled Starliner as the only option for getting astronauts to low-Earth orbit. (Starship is designed for missions much deeper into space.)
“I do not think it’s a secret that SpaceX intends to sunset older platforms like Falcon and Dragon as they concentrate on their next-generation capability, Starship, which just had a significant milestone today as it reached orbit, and is paramount to America’s ability to return to the moon, our ambitions on the lunar surface itself, including a moon base,” Isaacman said Monday.
Isaacman acknowledged that Starship presents other opportunities, “from carrying brand new telescopes for science and discovery to national security applications to the orbital economy.”
But getting astronauts to the ISS is still a priority. And Isaacman and other NASA officials on Monday laid out a new road map for getting Starliner fixed and working as intended.
The agency said Starliner could make an uncrewed test flight in December, followed by another flight with astronauts as soon as mid-2028.
3 hr 1 min ago
Why Starship's cruise was cut short
By Ashley Strickland
SpaceX Starship in space during test flight 14. From SpaceX
In a statement on Flight 14 posted to the company’s website, SpaceX confirmed why flight controllers opted to bring the ship home sooner than expected.
As Starship ascended on its climb to space, one of the spacecraft’s Raptor vacuum engines shut down prematurely.
Starship was still able to reach orbit for the first time, burning the five other Raptor engines for longer to achieve enough thrust for its trajectory.
But as the spacecraft entered its cruise, called the coast phase, around Earth, Starship’s flight control team made a decision regarding the rest of the original 10-hour flight plan, paring it back to about three hours.
“Out of an abundance of caution given the engine issue experienced during ascent, the flight control team decided to limit the duration spent on orbit and proceeded with deorbiting Starship to a splashdown location in the northern Pacific Ocean,” according to the release shared post-flight by SpaceX.
6 hr 5 min ago
Catch up on today's wins and losses
By Jackie Wattles
Spectators gather near SpaceX's Starbase facility to watch Starship Flight 14 launch, in Starbase, Texas, on Monday. Ronaldo Schemidt/AFP/Getty Images
Today’s mission notched some big wins — and a few moments of concern.
SpaceX is still, for example, having issues with engine reliability. The Super Heavy rocket booster performed well on the way up, but appeared to have one engine cut out early. It then only relit 31 of 33 engines as it guided itself back to Earth. Relighting engines is key for Super Heavy to guide itself back to a safe landing.
Meanwhile, the upper Starship spacecraft, or “ship,” had one of its six engines shut down prematurely on the way up to space. SpaceX didn’t need to use that engine again after the first burn, so the company opted to move ahead with the mission — giving Starship the green light to fire itself to orbit.
Then came the biggest wins of the day: Starship made it to orbit and safely deployed 26 Starlink V3 satellites, marking the first time the rocket has deployed an operational payload.
With the number of Starlink V3 satellites on board and the boosted capacity of this new version of the satellites, SpaceX spokesperson Dan Huot noted that today’s test flight “was like 20 Falcon 9 flights in terms of bandwidth.”
Still, SpaceX chose to end the mission early, leaving Starship in orbit for just a few hours rather than the planned 10 hours.
Starship then headed for its most intense reentry yet. It plunged back into Earth’s atmosphere while traveling more than 20 times the speed of sound. Starship made it back and completed a controlled landing at a pre-planned site in the Pacific Ocean, though the ship did not make as soft a touchdown as it did on the last mission. After Flight 13 in July, Starship landed so softly that SpaceX is working to bring the vehicle all the way back to Texas after hauling it onto a ship.
It’s not clear whether SpaceX can attempt to make a similar recovery after today’s mission. But every piece of data the company can gather from recovered hardware could be extremely valuable.
Exactly when Starship will launch again — and how the next test mission will look — is not yet clear.
Musk had said he hoped to start landing both Super Heavy and the upper Ship back on dry land in the near future, paving the way for SpaceX to begin reusing both parts of the rocket — something that has never been done before. But it’s unclear whether the engine issues seen today will push off those goals further into the future.
Catch up on today's wins and losses
By Jackie Wattles
Spectators gather near SpaceX's Starbase facility to watch Starship Flight 14 launch, in Starbase, Texas, on Monday. Ronaldo Schemidt/AFP/Getty Images
Today’s mission notched some big wins — and a few moments of concern.
SpaceX is still, for example, having issues with engine reliability. The Super Heavy rocket booster performed well on the way up, but appeared to have one engine cut out early. It then only relit 31 of 33 engines as it guided itself back to Earth. Relighting engines is key for Super Heavy to guide itself back to a safe landing.
Meanwhile, the upper Starship spacecraft, or “ship,” had one of its six engines shut down prematurely on the way up to space. SpaceX didn’t need to use that engine again after the first burn, so the company opted to move ahead with the mission — giving Starship the green light to fire itself to orbit.
Then came the biggest wins of the day: Starship made it to orbit and safely deployed 26 Starlink V3 satellites, marking the first time the rocket has deployed an operational payload.
With the number of Starlink V3 satellites on board and the boosted capacity of this new version of the satellites, SpaceX spokesperson Dan Huot noted that today’s test flight “was like 20 Falcon 9 flights in terms of bandwidth.”
Still, SpaceX chose to end the mission early, leaving Starship in orbit for just a few hours rather than the planned 10 hours.
Starship then headed for its most intense reentry yet. It plunged back into Earth’s atmosphere while traveling more than 20 times the speed of sound. Starship made it back and completed a controlled landing at a pre-planned site in the Pacific Ocean, though the ship did not make as soft a touchdown as it did on the last mission. After Flight 13 in July, Starship landed so softly that SpaceX is working to bring the vehicle all the way back to Texas after hauling it onto a ship.
It’s not clear whether SpaceX can attempt to make a similar recovery after today’s mission. But every piece of data the company can gather from recovered hardware could be extremely valuable.
Exactly when Starship will launch again — and how the next test mission will look — is not yet clear.
Musk had said he hoped to start landing both Super Heavy and the upper Ship back on dry land in the near future, paving the way for SpaceX to begin reusing both parts of the rocket — something that has never been done before. But it’s unclear whether the engine issues seen today will push off those goals further into the future.
6 hr 17 min ago
SpaceX wants to make two of its own vehicles "obsolete"
By Jackie Wattles
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifts off from the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station on January 10, 2025. Steve Nesius/Reuters
Despite outstanding questions and engineering challenges left to solve, SpaceX already appears to be diverting resources to Starship as it begins to quietly phase out its Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon spacecraft.
SpaceX president Gwynne Shotwell said during a conference appearance earlier this month that Starship is simply “better” for achieving the company’s own long-term goals, so it makes sense to shift resources toward its development.
It’s also about ensuring SpaceX stays on the bleeding edge of rocket development, she added: “If we don’t obsolete our own products and services, someone’s going to find a way to obsolete them for us.”
SpaceX wants to make two of its own vehicles "obsolete"
By Jackie Wattles
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifts off from the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station on January 10, 2025. Steve Nesius/Reuters
Despite outstanding questions and engineering challenges left to solve, SpaceX already appears to be diverting resources to Starship as it begins to quietly phase out its Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon spacecraft.
SpaceX president Gwynne Shotwell said during a conference appearance earlier this month that Starship is simply “better” for achieving the company’s own long-term goals, so it makes sense to shift resources toward its development.
It’s also about ensuring SpaceX stays on the bleeding edge of rocket development, she added: “If we don’t obsolete our own products and services, someone’s going to find a way to obsolete them for us.”
6 hr 30 min ago
Starship is expected to be super cheap to launch. But will the broader industry benefit?
By Jackie Wattles
The SpaceX Starship and Super Heavy v3 Booster stand at Pad 2 at the SpaceX launch complex in Starbase, Texas, on July 23, 2026. Steve Nesius/Reuters
SpaceX’s Falcon rockets have dominated the global launch industry for years.
But now that the company is phasing out Falcons in favor of focusing on Starship, there’s no guarantee Starship will fill the void left behind.
Falcon customers have been able to use a website to inquire about booking an entire rocket or finding space for their statellite aboard a rideshare mission.
No such offering exists for Starship, and it’s not clear that SpaceX will open the rocket up for commercial sales.
And even if SpaceX does, it may not be as cheap as advertised.
Though Musk has said Starship will drive down the cost of getting cargo to orbit by “orders of magnitude,” even if SpaceX achieves that goal, it’s not clear that SpaceX will allow other companies to reap the benefits by passing along those cost savings to customers.
“There’s zero economic reason for SpaceX to do that — and zero data that supports the trend is even going that direction,” according to a source familiar with customer negotiations, speaking anonymously to discuss sensitive industry developments. There may be a reality check in store for some “companies that have raised a ton of money on the idea that launch costs are all of a sudden going to be $500 a kilogram.”
Notably, the cargo configuration of Starship also does not have a traditional payload bay that can deliver all manner of satellites into orbit.
Rather, it’s specifically designed to deploy SpaceX-made satellites through a narrow slat, reminiscent of a Pez dispenser. That could limit what type of commercial satellites are able to fly aboard.
Starship is expected to be super cheap to launch. But will the broader industry benefit?
By Jackie Wattles
The SpaceX Starship and Super Heavy v3 Booster stand at Pad 2 at the SpaceX launch complex in Starbase, Texas, on July 23, 2026. Steve Nesius/Reuters
SpaceX’s Falcon rockets have dominated the global launch industry for years.
But now that the company is phasing out Falcons in favor of focusing on Starship, there’s no guarantee Starship will fill the void left behind.
Falcon customers have been able to use a website to inquire about booking an entire rocket or finding space for their statellite aboard a rideshare mission.
No such offering exists for Starship, and it’s not clear that SpaceX will open the rocket up for commercial sales.
And even if SpaceX does, it may not be as cheap as advertised.
Though Musk has said Starship will drive down the cost of getting cargo to orbit by “orders of magnitude,” even if SpaceX achieves that goal, it’s not clear that SpaceX will allow other companies to reap the benefits by passing along those cost savings to customers.
“There’s zero economic reason for SpaceX to do that — and zero data that supports the trend is even going that direction,” according to a source familiar with customer negotiations, speaking anonymously to discuss sensitive industry developments. There may be a reality check in store for some “companies that have raised a ton of money on the idea that launch costs are all of a sudden going to be $500 a kilogram.”
Notably, the cargo configuration of Starship also does not have a traditional payload bay that can deliver all manner of satellites into orbit.
Rather, it’s specifically designed to deploy SpaceX-made satellites through a narrow slat, reminiscent of a Pez dispenser. That could limit what type of commercial satellites are able to fly aboard.
6 hr 38 min ago
This is why SpaceX is building a 110 million square foot factory in Texas
By Jackie Wattles
A rendering of the factory, Terafab, to be built in Texas. Terafab
Since beginning its foray as a publicly traded company, SpaceX has been propping up a wild plan to deploy about a million satellites into low-Earth orbit for a space-based data center — mostly to support AI.
But not all the infrastructure would be in space. The company also has plans to build a truly colossal chip factory in Texas, called Terafab, that’s expected to cost tens of billions of dollars.
The facility — slated to be 110,000,000 square feet — will be where Tesla, SpaceX and xAI, which SpaceX acquired ahead of the IPO, manufacture chips for computing, aiding both SpaceX and Tesla.
During his appearance at the All-In Summit last week, Musk said this massive undertaking was spurred by geopolitical concerns.
“We’re a little worried that, at some point, chips from Taiwan would not be available for who knows what reason,” Musk said.
The Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) produces more than 90% of chips used for advanced computing.
This is why SpaceX is building a 110 million square foot factory in Texas
By Jackie Wattles
A rendering of the factory, Terafab, to be built in Texas. Terafab
Since beginning its foray as a publicly traded company, SpaceX has been propping up a wild plan to deploy about a million satellites into low-Earth orbit for a space-based data center — mostly to support AI.
But not all the infrastructure would be in space. The company also has plans to build a truly colossal chip factory in Texas, called Terafab, that’s expected to cost tens of billions of dollars.
The facility — slated to be 110,000,000 square feet — will be where Tesla, SpaceX and xAI, which SpaceX acquired ahead of the IPO, manufacture chips for computing, aiding both SpaceX and Tesla.
During his appearance at the All-In Summit last week, Musk said this massive undertaking was spurred by geopolitical concerns.
“We’re a little worried that, at some point, chips from Taiwan would not be available for who knows what reason,” Musk said.
The Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) produces more than 90% of chips used for advanced computing.
7 hr ago
SpaceX thanks Mexican government
By Jackie Wattles
President of Mexico Claudia Sheinbaum, center, attends the Mexican Independence Day military parade in Mexico City, on September 16. Manuel Velasquez/Getty Images
Last summer, SpaceX president Claudia Sheinbaum threatened legal action against SpaceX, citing contamination caused by the company’s rockets. The remarks notably came after a Starship rocket exploded during ground tests at SpaceX’s facilities in Starbase, Texas — which lie on the Texas-Mexico border.
But the tense relationship appears to be easing. Sheinbaum later told Mexican news outlets that the government would not sue SpaceX after all.
“So far, things have worked reasonably well; if a lawsuit were to become necessary, we would evaluate it, but for now, we have opted for coordination,” Sheinbaum said last July according to local media.
Notably, during the close of Monday’s Starship webcast, one of the hosts named the Mexican government as one of the institutions the company wanted to thank:
“We’d also like to thank the fine people of Cameron County, as well as the Coast Guard, the Federal Aviation Administration, and the Government of Mexico,” said Jake Berkowitz, a lead propulsion engineer.
It’s not clear why the Mexican government was named.
SpaceX thanks Mexican government
By Jackie Wattles
President of Mexico Claudia Sheinbaum, center, attends the Mexican Independence Day military parade in Mexico City, on September 16. Manuel Velasquez/Getty Images
Last summer, SpaceX president Claudia Sheinbaum threatened legal action against SpaceX, citing contamination caused by the company’s rockets. The remarks notably came after a Starship rocket exploded during ground tests at SpaceX’s facilities in Starbase, Texas — which lie on the Texas-Mexico border.
But the tense relationship appears to be easing. Sheinbaum later told Mexican news outlets that the government would not sue SpaceX after all.
“So far, things have worked reasonably well; if a lawsuit were to become necessary, we would evaluate it, but for now, we have opted for coordination,” Sheinbaum said last July according to local media.
Notably, during the close of Monday’s Starship webcast, one of the hosts named the Mexican government as one of the institutions the company wanted to thank:
“We’d also like to thank the fine people of Cameron County, as well as the Coast Guard, the Federal Aviation Administration, and the Government of Mexico,” said Jake Berkowitz, a lead propulsion engineer.
It’s not clear why the Mexican government was named.
7 hr 14 min ago
Starship splashes down in the Pacific Ocean
By Jackie Wattles
Starship lands in the Pacific Ocean. From SpaceX
The Starship rocket just blared back into the atmosphere, glowing bright with plasma as the vehicle shed most of its speed as the energy was converted to heat.
The rocket came in like a belly-flopping skydiver, but it then reignited its engines to flip itself upright and make a controlled landing burn, practicing how the vehicle would guide itself back into the arms of its launch tower on dry land.
SpaceX hopes to soon land and refly Starship spacecraft, a feat that engineers have dubbed the “holy grail” of rocketry. But for today, the vehicle made a practice maneuver over the ocean.
The ship caused a massive ball of fire, and did not land as softly as it had during the last mission in July. But it appeared to remain at least partially intact atop the water.
Starship splashes down in the Pacific Ocean
By Jackie Wattles
Starship lands in the Pacific Ocean. From SpaceX
The Starship rocket just blared back into the atmosphere, glowing bright with plasma as the vehicle shed most of its speed as the energy was converted to heat.
The rocket came in like a belly-flopping skydiver, but it then reignited its engines to flip itself upright and make a controlled landing burn, practicing how the vehicle would guide itself back into the arms of its launch tower on dry land.
SpaceX hopes to soon land and refly Starship spacecraft, a feat that engineers have dubbed the “holy grail” of rocketry. But for today, the vehicle made a practice maneuver over the ocean.
The ship caused a massive ball of fire, and did not land as softly as it had during the last mission in July. But it appeared to remain at least partially intact atop the water.
7 hr 31 min ago
See how Starship stacks up to the largest rockets ever
By Jackie Wattles and Tal Yellin
See how Starship stacks up to the largest rockets ever
By Jackie Wattles and Tal Yellin
Starship is the biggest rocket ever created — by far.
The towering megarocket stands at nearly 400 feet (121 meters) tall and, with the debut of Version 3, packs around 18 million pounds of force at liftoff.
Here’s how it stacks up to some of the largest rockets ever constructed, past and present.
- Saturn V: The famous NASA rocket that powered the Apollo moon landings of the 20th century put out about 7.6 million pounds of thrust at takeoff. That’s still less than half of Starship’s expected power. It stood at about 360 feet (110 meters) tall.
- Russian N1 rocket: This was Russia’s mega moon rocket of the 20th century space race. And while it was never operational (all four launch attempts failed), Musk has said it’s the closest relative of Starship’s design. The N1 was expected to give off more than 10 million pounds of thrust at liftoff — still well below Starship’s specs.
- The Space Shuttle: NASA’s workhorse launch system in the post-Apollo era, the shuttle had two solid rocket boosters that gave off about 5.3 million pounds of force at liftoff. It was about 180 feet (55 meters) tall.
- Falcon Heavy: SpaceX’s own 230-foot-tall (70-meter-tall) rocket that previously held the title for most powerful operational rocket in the world. It has about 5 million pounds of thrust.
- Space Launch System: NASA’s new moon rocket, which powered the historic Artemis II lunar flyby mission in April, is currently the most powerful rocket in operation. It produces about 8.8 million pounds of thrust — less than half the Starship V3’s output at liftoff. SLS’s Block 1 variant is about 322 feet (98.15 meters) tall.
No comments:
Post a Comment