Trending searches · 2026-09-28
SpaceX Starship Flight 14 Launch Time: First Orbital Attempt on Sept. 28
This post was compiled with AI. We checked it against the original articles and announcements, but please confirm details in the linked sources. Trending on Google Trends (CA) 10,000+, (AU, spacex) 1,000+; sources collected 2026-09-28 18:11 (KST).
In one line
SpaceX plans to launch Starship Flight 14 on Monday, Sept. 28, 2026, from Starbase, Texas. It is the rocket's first attempt to reach orbit, and the 75-minute launch window opens at 8:15 a.m. ET.
Why people are searching
SpaceX Starship rose to 10,000+ searches in Google Trends Canada, and SpaceX reached 1,000+ in Australia. The news stories tied to those searches include CNN's "The most powerful rocket ever built is on the verge of its biggest, and riskiest, test yet" and CNBC's "SpaceX prepares to send Starship rocket to orbit for first time." Interest appears to be building ahead of the launch window.
| Item | Detail from reports |
|---|---|
| Flight | Starship Flight 14 |
| Date | Monday, Sept. 28, 2026 |
| Window | 75 minutes, opening 8:15 a.m. ET (7:15 a.m. CT, 12:15 UTC) |
| Launch site | Starbase, Texas |
| Rocket height | 407 feet (124 meters) |
| Previous flights | 13, all suborbital |
| Payload | 26 Starlink V3 satellites |
| Planned orbits | About six |
| Ship splashdown | Pacific Ocean off Chile, nearly 10 hours after launch |
| Super Heavy booster | Practice landing at sea, not recovered |
For viewers outside the US, 12:15 UTC is 1:15 p.m. in London and 10:15 p.m. in Sydney on Sept. 28.
What is different about this flight
Every earlier Starship flight was flown on a path that would bring the ship back down on its own, even if SpaceX lost control of it. Flight 14 is meant to change that. If the ship passes its health checks after the first engine burns, it will fire an engine again to raise its path into orbit, then release the 26 new Starlink satellites.
That safety net goes away once the ship is in orbit, which is why SpaceX has said it may skip the orbit-raising burn if anything looks wrong early in the flight. In that case the ship would stay on a suborbital path like the previous 13 flights.
After about six trips around Earth, the ship is planned to fire its engines to come back and make a controlled splashdown in the Pacific. SpaceX will not try to catch the ship with the launch tower on this flight.
What we could not confirm
- The launch result. This page was written before the window opened, and launch times can slip.
- The date of the FAA license for this flight. Only one of our sources reported it.
- The planned orbital altitude, which appears in only one source.
- The original launch date before the delay to Sept. 28.
Sources
- CNBC, SpaceX prepares to send Starship rocket to orbit for first time (Sept. 28, 2026) https://www.cnbc.com/2026/09/28/spacex-prepares-to-send-starship-rocket-to-orbit-for-first-time.html
- Spaceflight Now, Live coverage: SpaceX to launch first Starlink V3 satellites to orbit on Starship (Sept. 28, 2026) https://spaceflightnow.com/2026/09/28/live-coverage-spacex-to-launch-first-starlink-v3-satellites-to-orbit-on-starship/
- Space.com, SpaceX's Starship megarocket launching to orbit for 1st time ever today https://www.space.com/space-exploration/launches-spacecraft/spacexs-starship-megarocket-launching-to-orbit-for-1st-time-ever-on-sept-28-watch-it-live
- CNN, The most powerful rocket ever built is on the verge of its biggest and riskiest test yet (Sept. 27, 2026) https://www.cnn.com/2026/09/27/science/spacex-starship-orbital-launch