SpaceX's Starship Reaches Orbital Trajectory on Third Test Flight
SpaceX’s Starship successfully achieved orbital trajectory on March 14, 2025, advancing the development of its Human Landing System for upcoming NASA Artemis missions.
Published on April 4, 2025
On March 14, 2025, SpaceX’s Starship successfully reached its intended orbital trajectory during its third test flight, marking a major milestone in the development of the Starship Human Landing System (HLS) for NASA’s Artemis lunar missions.
In addition to achieving orbit, the mission incorporated several in-space demonstrations — including tests of payload door operations, propellant transfer, and an attempt to re-light a Raptor engine. While some supplemental reports mention challenges during reentry, the flight’s core objective of orbital insertion remained the mission’s defining success.