Starship reaches orbit and deploys 26 Starlink V3s

SpaceX's Starship Flight 14 lifted off from Starbase at about 8:48 a.m. EDT on September 28 and reached orbit for the first time after one upper-stage engine shut down and a brief no-orbit call was reversed. Ship 41 deployed 26 Starlink V3 satellites that Musk said were operating nominally, the first V3s intended to stay in the constellation rather than the July 24 suborbital release. Controllers cut the planned six-orbit, nearly 10-hour flight to about three hours; Super Heavy splashed in the Gulf of Mexico and the ship reentered for a Pacific splashdown north of Hawaii, where AP said it then tipped over and erupted in flames.