FAA authorizes SpaceX Starship Flight 14 ahead of first orbital attempt

SpaceX has received Federal Aviation Administration authorization for Starship Flight 14, clearing the planned September 28 attempt to put the vehicle into Earth orbit for the first time. The flight could also deploy 26 Starlink satellites, but neither orbit nor deployment is assured. Aviation Week reported on September 27 that the FAA issued its authorization for launch and reentry operations the previous day.

SpaceX is targeting a launch from Starbase, Texas, between 8:15 and 9:30 a.m. Eastern time on Monday, September 28, or 12:15 to 13:30 UTC. Flight 14 would be the system’s fourteenth test after 13 suborbital flights. The FAA’s decision permits the attempt; it does not establish that Starship has launched or completed any part of the mission.

A conditional route to orbit

The orbital attempt depends on how the upper stage performs after its initial ascent. According to the SpaceX mission profile quoted by Aviation Week, flight controllers plan to assess the vehicle during a coast phase. If it is healthy, a single Raptor engine would fire to place it in orbit. Otherwise, the vehicle would remain on a suborbital trajectory toward an Indian Ocean splashdown.

The planned orbit is about 171 miles, or 275 kilometres, above Earth. SpaceX aims for six circuits of the planet during a flight expected to last about nine hours and 50 minutes. Reaching that orbit would mark a change from the trajectories used in the previous 13 tests, but the decision to proceed will be made during the flight.

The mission plan calls for a later engine burn to leave orbit, followed by reentry and a Pacific Ocean splashdown west of Chile. SpaceX does not plan to catch either the Starship upper stage or its Super Heavy booster on this flight. The booster is also expected to splash down at sea. Each step remains a planned outcome rather than a completed result.

What Flight 13 showed

Flight 13, launched on July 24, provided a mixed precedent. Aviation Week reported that it deployed 20 third-generation Starlink test satellites on a suborbital trajectory. TechCrunch reported that the upper stage made a relatively gentle Indian Ocean splashdown and remained afloat, allowing SpaceX to recover it for examination. The flight did not put Starship into orbit.

The booster’s return was less successful. TechCrunch reported that its engines struggled to relight after separation, and the booster did not complete its intended landing sequence. SpaceX subsequently said it had changed booster hardware and software to address issues from that flight. The company also said it changed the upper stage’s heat shield after studying the recovered vehicle.

The broader test record includes both advances and losses. A NASA Office of Inspector General report recorded propellant transfer between tanks within Starship on Flight 3, controlled landings of both stages on Flight 4 and a booster catch at the launch tower on Flight 5. It also recorded losses of the Starship vehicle on Flights 7, 8 and 9, followed by planned splashdowns of both stages on Flights 10 and 11.

Why the attempt matters

NASA hired SpaceX in 2021 to develop a lunar lander for its Artemis programme. That makes Starship’s progress relevant beyond SpaceX’s satellite network. An orbital flight would test a capability the vehicle has yet to demonstrate, while a successful deployment or reentry would answer different questions. No single result on Flight 14 would, by itself, establish readiness for crewed lunar operations.

For now, the confirmed development is regulatory authorization and a scheduled launch window. SpaceX’s proposed orbital insertion depends on the vehicle’s condition after ascent, and the satellites can only be deployed as planned if the preceding steps succeed. The precise launch time may change, and the flight’s outcome will remain unknown until the attempt takes place.