SpaceX Targets Sept. 28 for Starship Test Flight

SpaceX is targeting Monday, Sept. 28, for Starship’s 14th test flight, a roughly 10-hour mission and its first attempt to reach orbit. The 407-foot rocket is expected to deploy 26 next-generation Starlink satellites before the spacecraft splashes down in the Pacific and the Super Heavy booster lands in the Gulf of Mexico; the launch date remains subject to change. The test is intended to advance development of a fully reusable vehicle for NASA’s Artemis lunar plans. Separately, SpaceX launched the classified U.S. Space Force USSF-385 mission from California, and NASA’s Crew-13 crew arrived at Kennedy Space Center ahead of a planned Oct. 1 ISS launch.