WATCH: SpaceX Starship reaches orbit for first time, deploys 26 Starlink satellites

CALGARY — SpaceX’s Starship reached orbit for the first time Monday and released 26 Starlink satellites, but flight controllers brought the spacecraft down hours ahead of schedule after an engine shut down early.The spacecraft splashed down in the Pacific north of Hawaii about three hours after lifting off from Starbase, Texas, according to the Associated Press. SpaceX had planned a flight of nearly 10 hours and six orbits of Earth, ending with a splashdown near Chile. Starship reached its intended orbit despite the engine problem. Controllers spent several minutes assessing the spacecraft before allowing the mission to continue and the satellites to deploy. SpaceX did not give a reason for its later decision to shorten the flight..The spacecraft tipped over and caught fire when it hit the water. Its first-stage booster was never intended to return to the launch site and instead came down in the Gulf of Mexico shortly after liftoff.The flight was Starship’s 14th full-scale launch in three years and its first to reach orbit. Earlier tests travelled no farther than the Indian Ocean. Monday’s mission carried the latest version of SpaceX’s Starlink satellites, which were released one at a time.NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman congratulated SpaceX on the orbital milestone and its handling of the flight. The result matters to NASA’s Artemis moon program, which plans to use Starship as one of two competing lunar landers..SpaceX is also working toward recovering and re-flying the 124-metre rocket. The company modified this spacecraft’s heat shield after inspecting a Starship recovered from the Indian Ocean in July. Depending on what engineers learn from Monday’s flight, a future test could attempt to catch the returning spacecraft at Starbase with mechanical arms..Elon Musk has said SpaceX is taking a cautious approach to bringing Starship back over land because a breakup could scatter debris. He designed the rocket to be fully reusable and intends to use it to carry large satellite payloads, support moon missions and, eventually, travel to Mars.NASA’s current Artemis plans call for an orbital docking exercise involving its Orion spacecraft and landers built by SpaceX and Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin. A later mission, planned for no sooner than 2028, would put astronauts on the moon using whichever lander is ready first.

WATCH: SpaceX Starship reaches orbit for first time, deploys 26 Starlink satellites

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