SpaceX Tells FCC Starship Flight 14 Will Attempt First Full Orbital Insertion, Targets Sept 15

SpaceX filed an application with the FCC on August 31, 2026 requesting a Special Temporary Authorization for its Starlink V3 satellites to operate in the 42.0-42.5 GHz space-to-Earth band, stating that September 15, 2026 is the planned launch/deployment date for Starship's 14th integrated flight test (Booster 21 + Ship 41). The filing is the first to put a full orbital-insertion mission profile on Starship's communications paperwork — unlike the suborbital arcs flown on every prior test, Flight 14 is designed to reach and hold actual orbital velocity, deploying roughly 20 operational Starlink V3 satellites (each rated around 1 terabit per second of downlink capacity) rather than dummy payloads. The target date matches what Elon Musk told investors on SpaceX's August 4 earnings call, that the next flight would carry next-generation V3 satellites into an operational orbit. The FCC filing covers communications authority only, not flight readiness; SpaceX still needs Ship 41 fully stacked atop Booster 21 and cleared by the FAA before the flight can proceed, and Musk has separately said a tower-catch attempt of the upper stage is still probably a few months away rather than planned for Flight 14, with the ship instead targeting an Indian Ocean splashdown.