SpaceX fires up Starship ahead of megarocket’s 1st orbital flight (video)

SpaceX is accelerating preparations for its upcoming Starship rocket launch, with a recent single-engine static fire test completing the process on Wednesday night (Aug. 19). The Ship 41 vehicle, an upper-stage spacecraft set to launch Starship 14, underwent a deorbit burn test. This marks the first time Starship will undertake an orbital mission. Following the single-engine test, SpaceX conducted a full six-engine static fire on Thursday (Aug. 20), lasting about 60 seconds.

With these successful tests, SpaceX may launch Flight 14 sometime in early to mid-September. However, several prelaunch tasks must be completed before declaring the launch ready. Flight 14 will be Starship's 14th test flight and its first orbit-bound mission, making it the third launch of 2026. This particular Starship will be the upgraded Version 3 (V3) variant, introduced in May.

SpaceX is also integrating a V3 Starship to dock with NASA's Orion spacecraft for the Artemis III mission, scheduled for Earth orbit next year. The agency planned to land astronauts on the moon's surface with the Artemis IV mission in late 2028. Although SpaceX initially aimed for a return-to-launch-site recovery, CEO Elon Musk recently revealed this milestone will occur "in a few months" instead.

Ship 41 will likely attempt a soft ocean splashdown at the end of its flight, while its Super Heavy counterpart, Booster 21, is expected to follow suit.

Three Super Heavy boosters have already returned successfully to Starbase using the Mechazilla launch tower, with two reflights. However, a V3 Super Heavy catch has yet to be attempted. SpaceX aims to support 30 Starship launches per day, if not more, according to Musk's recent comments.