Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (NASDAQ:SPCX) is targeting Sept. 15 for Starship Flight 14, according to a regulatory filing that points to the giant rocket’s first orbital mission and the beginning of sustained Starlink V3 deployments.
Starship Flight 14 Targets Orbital Milestone
The Federal Communications Commission filing lists Sept. 15 as the requested start date for Flight 14 communications and says the mission includes an “orbital second stage.” SpaceX has not formally announced the launch date, so the target could still move.
Flight 14 would mark a major step beyond Starship’s 13th test flight in July. That mission deployed 20 functional Starlink V3 satellites, but Starship and the payload remained on a suborbital trajectory before the ship completed its best reentry yet and splashed down intact in the Indian Ocean. Elon Musk called that test “successful.”
Starlink V3 Promises Major Capacity Leap
The next mission is expected to turn Starship from a suborbital test vehicle into an orbital launcher while accelerating SpaceX’s Starlink expansion. The company says each V3 satellite is designed for one terabit per second of downlink capacity, and one Starship could eventually carry up to 60. SpaceX estimates a single Starship V3 launch could add about 20 times the network capacity of a Falcon 9 mission carrying current V2 satellites.
That capacity jump matters as SpaceX shifts more Starlink launches away from Falcon 9 and toward Starship. The company recently ended planned Falcon 9 Starlink missions from Florida, saying future Florida Starlink flights will use Starship.
Tower Catch Goal Moves Beyond Flight 14
Flight 14 also comes as SpaceX pushes toward full rocket reusability. Reuters reported in August that SpaceX had considered attempting the first tower catch of Starship’s upper stage on the mission.
Musk has since said the catch will probably happen “in a few months”, suggesting SpaceX has pushed that milestone beyond Flight 14. The launch tower has already caught the Super Heavy booster multiple times.
Benzinga Edge Rankings show SpaceX stock offers a favorable price trend in the short, medium and long term.
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