Deorbit Burn For Upcoming Orbital Missions? | Starship Update

Starship Flight 14 is approaching—but a new planning document now points toward September 15 as the mission’s possible target date. Ship 41 has completed its static fire campaign, including a 15-second single-engine firing designed to demonstrate an in-space deorbit burn and a full 60-second six-engine test. Could Flight 14 become Starship’s first orbital mission? And if Ship 41 is nearly ready, is Booster 21 now the pacing item? Meanwhile, recovery teams are preparing to load Ship 40 aboard the massive semi-submersible vessel Forte for its journey home from Christmas Island. We also cover preparations at Starbase’s Pad 2, progress on Ship 42 and Ship 43, the completion of Gigabay’s main structure, an exceptionally long Raptor firing at McGregor, and major work toward Starship operations at LC-39A and SLC-37 in Florida. EDITORIAL CORRECTIONS: In this video, we said Starship Flight 15 will be NET September 15, 2026. The correct flight number is Starship Flight 14. In this video, the release date is stated as August 25, 2026. You could say that in 1/2 the world it is August 25th, but it was released August 24th in US EDT. ⚡ Become a member of NASASpaceflight's channel for exclusive discord access, fast turnaround clips, and other exclusive benefits. Your support helps us continue our 24/7 coverage. Click JOIN above to get started.⚡ 🤵 Hosted by Max Evans. 🖊️ Written by Aaran Reid and Eleanor Day. 🎥 Video from Ceaser G, Colleen Liedtke, D Wise, Starbase Live, Space Coast Live, McGregor Live, Starship Tracking, SpaceX, Svyatoslav Shanygin, Boskalis, 2026 Planet Labs PBC via Harry Stranger, Google Earth. ✂️ Edited by Ryan Caton. 💼 Produced by Kevin Michael Reed (@kmreed). Rocket Ranch! https://www.rocketranchbocachica.com/ 🔍 If you are interested in using footage from this video, please review our content use policy: https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/conte... L2 Boca Chica (more clips and photos) from BC's very early days to today. 🔗 https://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/ind... (Join L2 and support NSF here: https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/l2/) #Starship #SpaceX #Starbase #Flight14 #Ship41 #SuperHeavy #Raptor #NASASpaceflight Source: