SpaceX Starship reaches orbit for first time in test flight

Tech billionaire Elon Musk's private space company SpaceX's rocket "Starship" reached orbit for the first time on another test flight. It took off from a spaceport in the US state of Texas on Monday morning (local time). It will fly around the earth at an altitude of 275 kilometers and reach a speed of 28,000 kilometers per hour.

A mission lasting around ten hours was planned, during which the rocket would orbit the earth around six times in total.

According to initial information from SpaceX, the steering into orbit went according to plan. However, around an hour after the launch, the company announced that it would bring the "Starship" back to Earth after around three hours in orbit - and therefore significantly earlier than planned. The rocket was then supposed to fall in a controlled manner into the Pacific. Apparently one of the engines had switched off too early.

Deployment of satellites apparently successful

According to SpaceX, several Starlink satellites were deployed as part of the mission. They are intended to establish connections to Earth and other Starlink satellites.

The rocket system was tested for the first time in April 2023, but exploded after a few minutes. Further test flights also fell short of expectations. The US space agency NASA wants to send astronauts to the moon with the “Starship”, while SpaceX also aims to reach Mars one day.