SpaceX’s Starship achieves first sustained low‑Earth orbit despite minor glitches

SpaceX announced that its latest Starship test flight successfully entered low‑Earth orbit, marking the first time the fully stacked vehicle achieved sustained orbital flight.

The launch took place from Boca Chica, Texas, using the Super Heavy booster; after liftoff the vehicle followed a pre‑planned trajectory and the upper stage ignited to circularize the orbit at roughly 200‑kilometre altitude. The mission lasted about 90 minutes before the vehicle re‑entered.

Engineers noted that the flight was not without minor anomalies. Sensors reported a brief loss of attitude control during the booster‑separation phase and a slight deviation in the orbital insertion burn, but the onboard autonomous system corrected the issues and kept the vehicle on target.

The successful orbit is a milestone for SpaceX's Starship program, which aims to provide a fully reusable launch system for a range of missions, from satellite deployment to crewed lunar landings under NASA's Artemis program and eventually crewed trips to Mars. Previous attempts in 2023 and early 2024 had ended in early aborts or sub‑orbital flights.

SpaceX plans to analyze the telemetry from the recent flight to refine the vehicle’s guidance, navigation and control software before attempting a longer‑duration orbital mission later this year. Industry observers see the achievement as a step toward reducing launch costs and expanding access to space, though the company still faces regulatory scrutiny and the technical challenge of safely recovering the massive vehicle.