Starlink, lunar landing, and space computing power all rely on it! SpaceX (SPCX.US) Starship's 14th launch targets its first orbital flight and deployment of next-generation satellites

According to the Zhihui Finance APP, SpaceX (SPCX.US) plans to launch its giant Starship rocket earlier on Monday local time, aiming to send the spacecraft into orbit for the first time.

According to information from the SpaceX official website, the launch window for this mission is 75 minutes, beginning at 8:15 a.m. Eastern Time (7:15 a.m. local time at the Texas Starbase), with the launch site located at its self-built Starbase in Texas.

The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) confirmed via email that the agency issued the "SpaceX Starship Super Heavy Flight 14 Launch and Reentry Operational License Authorization" on September 26. With the 14th test flight of Starship, Elon Musk’s aerospace and defense company also plans to deploy 26 new Starlink V3 satellites.

It is understood that Starship is the core carrier of SpaceX’s expansion strategy. The company is relying on this giant rocket to scale up its Starlink (connectivity business), which as of the second quarter is the largest and only profitable division of SpaceX. SpaceX currently has around 11,000 active satellites operating in orbit, while its competitor, European satellite company OneWeb, has only about 650.

On SpaceX’s earnings call in August, Musk stated: “Starlink will, at some point, carry most of the world’s internet traffic—not impossible, at least in countries where we are authorized to operate, and these countries are the vast majority.”

SpaceX successfully went public in June, setting the record for the largest IPO ever, and is currently valued at about $2 trillion.

The Starship Super Heavy rocket and booster designed by SpaceX support full reusability, enabling heavier payloads to be delivered to orbit at lower costs, with performance surpassing all previous spacecraft. The previous 13 test flights were not aimed at reaching orbit, but with this 14th test, SpaceX hopes Starship can complete an orbital flight around the Earth.

The company is also preparing Starship for a major NASA test mission next year and intends to use this rocket to land American astronauts on the Moon’s surface.

Earlier this month, SpaceX Chief Operating Officer Gwynne Shotwell stated at the All-In Summit that the company also plans to use Starship to “send supercomputing into space,” and plans to put “AI computing satellites” into orbit by 2027.

This batch of all-new V3 satellites is manufactured at SpaceX’s Redmond, Washington plant, with solar arrays that generate twice the power of previous models. The satellites are larger and more powerful, providing Starlink users with faster data transmission rates than previous generations.