Starship Completes First Orbital Flight with Six Earth Circuits
· World · India Today, Times of India
SpaceX's Starship-Super Heavy rocket launched on its 14th flight test from Starbase in Texas, marking the first time Starship reached Earth orbit. The 124-metre rocket completed six circuits around the planet over a nearly 10-hour mission before attempting a controlled splashdown. The Super Heavy booster separated and splashed into the ocean as planned, while Ship 41 deployed 26 Starlink V3 satellites and tested orbital engine relighting and heat-shield performance during re-entry. This milestone shifts Starship from its previous 13 suborbital flights toward SpaceX's goal of a fully reusable rocket for Moon and Mars missions.
Why it matters
The successful orbital test validates critical re-entry and satellite-deployment systems that SpaceX must master before NASA can use Starship for its Artemis crewed lunar landings. A fully reusable Starship would dramatically lower the cost of deep-space missions and reshape the global launch market.
Read the original report — India Today
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