US airspace giant SpaceX on Monday launched its Starship spacecraft into orbit. The firm hoped the Starship could complete six full laps around Earth in order to prove its readiness for NASA's Artemis moon program.

"Starship is orbital," Mission Control announced to cheers. The Launch took place at Starbase, Texas. The laps were supposed to last around 10 hours, ending with a Pacific splashdown near Chile.

But just an hour after liftoff, SpaceX said it planned to bring Starship back to Earth after about three hours in orbit, cutting the 10-hour trip short.

Starship launches 26 satellites

NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman praised SpaceX for reaching orbit and "managing every step in a safe, responsible and especially inspirational way."

Starship is the biggest and most powerful spacecraft ever built, it was propelled by a 407-foot (124-meter) rocket that was designed from the start to be fully reusable.

The spacecraft was loaded with 26 of the latest and most advanced Starlink satellites, which were released one by one, to join the 11,000 older models already providing internet service. 

"All 26 Starlink V3 operational satellites deployed and operating nominally," SpaceX CEO ElonMusk wrote on X.

SpaceX's so-called V3 satellites are designed to unfold their antennas and solar panels after release before establishing connections with Earth and other Starlink satellites.

SpaceX began flying Starship in 2023 and the program has seen its successes and failures of successive tests. Technical challenges remain before Starship can fulfill its mandates, such as conduct commercial flights, deploy data centers in orbit or reach the Moon or the Red Planet.

Edited by: Kieran Burke

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