SpaceX Starship reaches orbit for first time in test flight

SpaceX's Starship rocket reached orbit for the first time on Monday, launching from Starbase, Texas. All earlier test flights had gone into space but had not completed an orbit around Earth.

During the flight, the rocket released 26 Starlink satellites into orbit. However, one of its engines stopped working too early, so SpaceX decided to cut the mission short. The original plan was a 10-hour flight, but the spacecraft came down after about three hours.

Starship re-entered the atmosphere and performed a controlled burn to slow itself down before landing in the Pacific Ocean near Hawaii. SpaceX is building Starship to carry people and cargo to the Moon, Mars, and other destinations.