SpaceX Starship reaches Earth orbit for the first time
As seen on the 24/7 Wall St. homepage on September 28, 2026.
Starship's first orbit hands SpaceX the heavy-lift lead while Blue Origin is still chasing a clean orbital delivery, and it strengthens its case for the Artemis lunar lander. Legacy launch providers just got a harder competitor to price.
RT @SpaceX: Starship performs its orbital insertion burn and enters orbit of Earth for the first time https://t.co/LodrSTnEnl
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Starship completed its orbital insertion burn on September 28, 2026, a milestone no other rocket in its payload class has matched, giving SpaceX a tangible performance lead over every competitor still working toward a clean orbital delivery.
The achievement directly reinforces SpaceX's position as NASA's Artemis lunar lander contractor, because orbital delivery is the foundational proof point the program requires before any crewed lunar mission can proceed.
Legacy launch providers now face a competitor that has demonstrated full orbital capability at Starship's scale, making it considerably harder for them to defend existing pricing and long-term launch contracts.
Elon Musk's retweet of the SpaceX announcement showed how broadly the moment registered across the aerospace and investor communities watching this program.