SpaceX launched Starship on its 15th test flight Friday evening from Starbase, Texas, and the upper stage reached a nominal low Earth orbit, Ars Technica reported¹.

The first stage flew as planned through ascent and released the upper stage over the Gulf of Mexico, after which the ship ignited its Raptor engines and entered orbit, the second time SpaceX has flown Starship into low Earth orbit, the outlet said¹.

When the booster was due to return, it was commanded to divert into the Gulf rather than be caught by the launch tower, after an unspecified issue, Ars Technica reported¹. The splashdown produced a large explosion visible more than 10 miles away, the report said¹.

The primary goal of the flight was deploying 26 Starlink V3 satellites through a door at the base of the spacecraft, which occurred about 40 minutes into the flight, according to Ars Technica¹. All 26 satellites reached orbit and will use onboard propulsion to raise altitude, the outlet said¹. The satellites have solar arrays that stretch 60 meters end to end when fully deployed, it reported¹.

Ars Technica said the result means Starship is now an operational orbital rocket, described in the report as the largest and most powerful machine humans have launched into space¹. SpaceX had hoped to return the first-stage booster, refurbish it, and fly it again; the company has landed and reflown Starship boosters before but not the latest Version 3 vehicle, the outlet said¹.

SpaceX has never attempted to catch the upper stage, Ars Technica reported¹. Doing so would require the vehicle to pass tests in orbit and during return so it is healthy before flying over parts of Mexico and the United States on the way to Starbase¹. If those checks pass, a landing would be about 3:15 p.m. local time Saturday in Texas (21:15 UTC); if not, the company has earlier options to de-orbit into an ocean, the report said¹.

A remaining development hurdle is the heat shield, which must protect the upper stage during reentry and support rapid reuse with light, durable tiles, Ars Technica said¹. SpaceX said this flight applies lessons from a September test, including extra tile retention in high-risk areas and work on plasma flow paths behind tiles, the outlet reported¹. SpaceX also said a large portion of this heat shield uses a curved tile design intended to reduce heating in gaps between tiles¹.