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SpaceX’s Starship reached Earth’s orbit for the first time on Monday during its 14th test flight, marking a major milestone for the company’s massive spacecraft, although the mission was ended several hours earlier than originally planned.

The uncrewed Starship launched from SpaceX’s Starbase facility in Texas on what was intended to be a roughly 10-hour mission, with plans for the spacecraft to circle Earth six times.

Minutes after liftoff, one of Starship’s engines shut down, raising questions over whether the spacecraft would be able to achieve its orbital objective. Flight controllers later determined that the mission could continue.

Starship successfully carried out an orbital burn using a single Raptor engine, reaching orbit about 26 minutes after liftoff.

“Starship is orbital,” Mission Control announced as the spacecraft reached the milestone.

The spacecraft subsequently deployed 26 Starlink satellites while in orbit. SpaceX CEO Elon Musk said on X that the Starlink V3 satellites were operational.

However, SpaceX later decided to end the orbital mission earlier than scheduled. Flight teams had initially expected Starship to remain in orbit for several hours before being deorbited.

The spacecraft eventually performed a landing burn before splashing down in the Pacific Ocean near Hawaii around midday.

The flight represents a significant step beyond SpaceX’s previous Starship test missions, which were suborbital and ended with splashdowns roughly an hour after launch.

All Starship missions so far have been uncrewed. NASA is looking to use a future version of the spacecraft as a lunar lander for astronauts.

SpaceX has also outlined an ambitious long-term goal of developing a large fleet of Starships capable of transporting humans to Mars.

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