STARBASE, USA, Sept. 28, 2026 - SpaceX launched Starship Flight 14, its first orbital test mission, from Starbase, Texas, at 8:49 a.m. EDT on Monday. The rocket reached orbit for the first time on this 14th full test flight.

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Impact Insight. Reaching orbit means flying sideways fast enough, about 7.8 km per second in low orbit, that the ground curves away as quickly as the vehicle falls. The link to planetary defense is indirect: a fully reusable heavy-lift rocket could make large telescopes and asteroid missions far cheaper to launch.