SpaceX's next-generation Starship rocket reached orbit for the first time despite an unexpected engine shutdown mid-flight on Monday (September 28) and deployed the first batch of new Starlink satellites, but the mission was cut short and ended with a controlled and fiery touchdown in the Pacific.

The mission was scheduled to last 10 hours, but was reduced to three hours after the engine problem. Launching from Texas, it was the rocket's 14th flight since 2023, as Elon Musk's company plans to put the vehicle into routine use starting later this year.

The uncrewed 40-story-tall vehicle, consisting of a ⁠Super Heavy booster rocket topped by the main upper-stage Starship vessel, thundered off its launch pad from SpaceX's Starbase complex along the Gulf of Mexico near Brownsville.

Upon reaching space, one of Starship's three main engines shut down prematurely, a development that led SpaceX spokesperson Dan Huot to announce on the company's live stream of the mission that the craft would be unable to reach orbit.

But Huot reversed course minutes later after an update from engineers confirmed that the craft could still attempt an engine firing that would boost it into orbit, which Starship successfully did minutes later.

Starship's controlled descent into the Pacific culminated with a thruster maneuver that flipped the vehicle vertically so that it hit the sea in a nose-up position. Fire engulfed the base of the rocket as it touched down on the ocean surface before tipping on its side, followed by a large fireball. The company had not planned to recover the spacecraft from the ‌sea following the ⁠mission.

DESCRIPCIÓN DE IMÁGENES

PACIFIC OCEAN (SEPTEMBER 28, 2026) (SPACEX-For editorial use only. No resales.)

1. SPACEX STARSHIP ENGINES IGNITE AS IT APPROACHES WATER (AUDIO OF CHEERS AT MISSION CONTROL)

2. VARIOUS OF SPACEX STARSHIP DESCENDING IN UPRIGHT POSITION TO OCEAN SURFACE

3. FIREBALL ERUPTS AS STARSHIP FALLS OVER ON ITS SIDE [PARTLY OFF-CAMERA] / STARSHIP ON ITS SIDE SURROUNDED BY FLAMES IN OCEAN [AUDIO ONLY: MISSION COMMENTATOR SAYING, "ALRIGHT, AND STARSHIP HAS LANDED"