SpaceX successfully launched Starship Flight 14 on September 28, 2026, carrying 26 Starlink V3 satellites to low Earth orbit. This marked the first operational satellite deployment by Starship and a significant milestone for the company's internet constellation program. Each Starlink V3 satellite adds 1 terabit per second of capacity to the network, substantially expanding coverage and user speeds. The Group 31-1 satellites were targeted for deployment into a stable orbit approximately 275 kilometers above Earth.

The Starship V3 second stage lifted off from Orbital Launch Pad 2 at SpaceX Starbase in Texas at 12:48 UTC. The booster was tasked with executing a successful ascent, stage separation, boostback burn, and landing burn at an offshore location in the Gulf of Mexico. Following satellite deployment, the Starship upper stage was expected to complete approximately six orbits over nearly ten hours before splashing down in the Pacific Ocean west of Chile.

The successful mission represented SpaceX's third flight of the Starship V3 variant and demonstrated the vehicle's capability to deliver payloads to orbit. With the FAA launch license secured, the flight validated critical systems and procedures for future operational Starship missions supporting both the Starlink constellation and other commercial and government objectives.