LOS ANGELES, Sept. 15 (Xinhua) -- SpaceX plans to send its giant Starship rocket into orbit around Earth for the first time during its 14th flight test, scheduled for Sept. 22, the company said Tuesday.
According to SpaceX's website, the launch window is scheduled to open at 7:15 a.m. Central Time and last 75 minutes, pending regulatory approval. The launch is planned to take place from SpaceX's Starbase facility in the U.S. state of Texas.
Starship's initial orbital mission is expected to fly at an altitude of approximately 275 km above Earth, complete roughly six orbits around the planet and last nearly 10 hours before splashing down in the Pacific Ocean, west of Chile.
Starship will also deliver 26 Starlink V3 satellites to orbit for the first time. The satellites are designed to greatly expand the network's capacity and user speeds, the company said.
After deployment, the satellites will unfold their antennas and solar arrays and establish initial contact with ground stations and the rest of the Starlink constellation via radio-frequency and laser links.
The booster's primary test objective on Flight 14 includes a successful launch, ascent, stage separation, boostback burn, and landing burn at an offshore landing point in the Gulf of Mexico, according to SpaceX.
The company said it has made several hardware and software modifications to address issues encountered during the previous flight.
SpaceX conducted the 13th flight test of its Starship system on July 24, achieving several major milestones, including the first deployment of next-generation Starlink V3 satellites and an in-space engine relight test. ■
