SpaceX’s 14th Starship test flight will challenge the first entry into Earth orbit and deploy 26 Starlink V3 satellites

SpaceX's "Starship 41" (Starship 41) is equipped with the "Super Heavy V3" No. 21 booster. It parked at the Starbase launch base in Texas on the 27th, preparing for its 14th test flight. The mission is expected to enter Earth orbit for the first time and deploy 26 "Starlink V3" satellites. (Reuters)

After many test flights and technical improvements, Elon Musk's SpaceX giant rocket "Starship" is scheduled to launch its 14th test flight at 7:15 a.m. Eastern Time on the 28th (8:15 p.m. on the 28th Taiwan Time). This mission, which lasted about 10 hours, will be the first time in the three years since the launch of the Starship that it has formally entered Earth orbit, becoming an important step in the development of future missions to the moon and Mars.

Agence France-Presse reported that the starship is scheduled to be launched at 7:15 a.m. local time in Texas on the 28th. If all goes well, the upper spacecraft will deploy 26 next-generation "Starlink" satellites after entering Earth's orbit, orbit the Earth six times, and finally end its flight in the Pacific Ocean.

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Since launching full-configuration test flights in 2023, SpaceX's past 13 tests have deliberately adopted suborbital flight trajectories with lower technical difficulty and lower risks. Many past test flights of starships have ended in violent explosions; this test flight will face the technical challenge of officially entering orbit for the first time, and the complexity of the task has significantly increased.

Second ignition into orbit, speed reaching 28,000 kilometers per hour

Kathleen Curlee, a senior analyst at the Center for Security and Emerging Technology at Georgetown University, pointed out that after liftoff, the starship must first enter sub-orbit, and then perform a second ignition in space before it can enter orbit. This is the most difficult part of the entire mission. In order to enter a circular orbit about 275 kilometers above the earth's surface, the starship must accelerate to a speed of about 28,000 kilometers per hour and perform more complex thrust control in response to different gravity environments.

The report pointed out that after the huge first-stage booster called "Super Heavy" completes its mission, it is expected to break away and fall into the Gulf of Mexico. SpaceX does not plan to use a huge robotic arm for aerial clipping and recovery this time. If the upper spacecraft successfully enters orbit, it will then attempt to deploy 26 "Starlink" satellites and complete six orbits of the Earth before ending the mission.

From an engineering perspective, Cooley said that as long as the starship successfully flies and obtains sufficient test data, it can be regarded as achieving the goal; but what audiences and investors are looking forward to are test results with more visual impact.