SpaceX Starship Program Status 2026: Test Flights, Progress & What’s Next

SpaceX’s Starship is the largest and most powerful launch vehicle ever flown — a fully reusable two-stage system designed to carry crew and cargo to Earth orbit, the Moon, Mars, and beyond. On September 28, 2026, Starship reached Earth orbit for the first time and deployed 26 operational Starlink satellites, a milestone that marks the program’s shift from experimental testing toward operational service.

This page tracks the complete Starship test flight history, the current Starship V3 vehicle, and what’s next for the program.

Starship V3: the current vehicle at a glance

The main technical hurdle right now is Raptor 3 engine reliability: engine failures affected Flights 12 and 14, and Flight 13 suffered the program’s first post-ignition full-stack abort at T-0 when four engines failed to start.

Latest Starship launch: Flight 14 reaches orbit

September 28, 2026 — Starship lifted off from Starbase, Texas at 8:49 a.m. ET. One of the ship’s six Raptor engines shut down during ascent, but flight controllers pressed on and the ship completed its orbital insertion burn, reaching orbit (~275 km) around 9:15 a.m. ET. “Starship is orbital,” mission control announced — the first time the vehicle has achieved it.

All 26 operational Starlink V3 satellites were deployed and, according to SpaceX, all were contacted and are operating normally. The mission had been planned as a ~10-hour, six-orbit flight, but SpaceX brought the ship home early after about three hours — the company gave no technical reason, though Elon Musk has said recently the company is being “extremely cautious” about debris risk. The ship made a controlled splashdown in the Pacific north of Hawaii at 11:57 a.m. ET, tipping over and breaking apart on water contact, an outcome SpaceX expected.

The Super Heavy booster lost one engine shortly after liftoff and made a soft splashdown in the Gulf of Mexico. No catch was attempted.

Starship test flight history

Flights 1-6 used Block 1 vehicles, flights 7-11 used Block 2, and flights 12-14 fly the current Block 3 (V3) design.

Booster catches and the road to full reusability

SpaceX has caught the Super Heavy booster with the launch tower’s “chopstick” arms three times (Flights 5, 7, and 8). A ship catch — recovering the upper stage with the tower — has never been attempted. Musk has said Flight 15 will be the attempt, possibly trying to catch both stages.

Starlink launches on Starship have begun

Starship is now flying real payloads. Flight 12 carried 20 Starlink simulators plus 2 modified Starlink V3 units, Flight 13 deployed the first 20 operational V3 satellites (on a suborbital trajectory), and Flight 14 placed 26 operational V3 satellites into orbit — adding roughly 26 terabits per second of capacity. The V3 satellites are too large to launch on Falcon 9, making Starship the only vehicle that can build out SpaceX’s planned constellation. For more on the network itself, see our overview of SpaceX’s Starlink mission.

Where Starship launches from

All 2026 flights have launched from the new Pad 2 at Starbase, Texas (three launches this year), while Pad 1 is being rebuilt. In Florida, the FAA granted environmental approval for Starship operations at LC-39A (up to 44 launches per year), though SpaceX still needs a flight license; the first Florida Starship flight is targeted for late 2026 or early 2027. Two additional pads at SLC-37 were approved in December 2025. Planning a trip to the Space Coast? See our Florida rocket launch viewing guide.

Starship and NASA’s Artemis program

NASA has restructured its Moon plans, and the old “Artemis III lands in 2027” framing is outdated:

Starship serves as the Human Landing System (HLS). Its first HLS test flight — the uncrewed HLS LEO Demo pathfinder in low Earth orbit — is targeted for June 2027 from LC-39A (date still TBD), ahead of the uncrewed lunar landing demonstration. The key capability it depends on — orbital propellant transfer — has never been demonstrated. Each lunar mission will require roughly 15 Starship tanker flights to refuel the lander.

Starship to Mars: where the timeline stands

Musk’s Mars dates have slipped repeatedly and should be treated as aspirational. The late-2026 transfer window will be missed — no Mars-bound hardware has been announced. Musk’s latest guidance points to an uncrewed attempt in the 2028/2029 window at the earliest, calling 2029 “most likely.”

What’s next for Starship

• Flight 15 — planned first attempt at catching the ship with the launch tower, targeted for December 2026 from Starbase. The launch page still lists the date and time as TBD, so this remains provisional.
• First Florida Starship flight — no dedicated launch page or date on the site’s schedule yet; SpaceX still needs a flight license for LC-39A.
• SpaceX HLS LEO Demo — the uncrewed HLS pathfinder demonstration in low Earth orbit for NASA’s Artemis program, targeted for June 2027 from LC-39A. The launch page still lists the date and time as TBD, so this remains provisional.
• Orbital propellant transfer demo — no dedicated launch page on the site’s schedule yet; the HLS LEO Demo above is the closest scheduled HLS test flight. Required before any Moon landing.
• Rapid reusability — SpaceX’s cadence goal is 1-2 flights per month soon, eventually far higher. This is a program goal, not a flight, so there is no launch page for it.