Grok Bot summary: Starship Flight 14, the first orbital Starship flight. 🔥 Ascent - During the climb, one Raptor vacuum engine shut down early. - Starship made up for the lost thrust by burning its other five engines for longer than planned. - It still reached its planned suborbital path. That path is "passively safe," meaning the ship would come back down safely on its own if nothing else happened. ✅ Go for orbit - Once it was on that path, the flight control team checked the ship's systems. - The three sea-level Raptor engines needed for later burns were healthy, so the team gave a "go" for orbital operations. 🌍 First time in orbit - Starship relit one sea-level Raptor for an orbit insertion burn. - **It entered orbit around Earth for the first time ever.** 🛰️ 26 Starlink V3 satellites deployed - After a short coast, Starship released all 26 Starlink V3 satellites. - SpaceX soon made contact with every one of them through laser links, ground stations and Starlink user terminals. - Next, the satellites run on-orbit checks and raise their orbits, then start serving customers. - Because of the engine problem on the way up, the team cut the time in orbit short "out of an abundance of caution." - They brought Starship down in the northern Pacific Ocean. That was one of two landing zones agreed before launch, and it was cleared of ships and aircraft. 🔻 First-ever deorbit burn - Starship relit one sea-level Raptor to slow down and drop out of orbit. - It then made it through atmospheric reentry and descent to the planned splashdown point. 🌊 Landing burn and splashdown - For the final landing burn and flip maneuver, all three sea-level Raptors relit. - Starship **splashed down on target** in the Pacific Ocean. 📌 Starship firsts on this flight - First time reaching orbit - First real payload deployed from orbit (26 Starlink V3 satellites) - First deorbit burn - A controlled splashdown on target, despite losing an engine on the way up 💡 Why it matters Getting to orbit, releasing real satellites, and coming back down under control are key steps toward Starship's big goals: flying Starlink at scale, fully reusable rockets, and eventually the Moon and Mars. Flight 14 did all of that, even after losing an engine.