How Many SpaceX Starship Rocket Tests Have Failed?

SpaceX’s Starship reached orbit for the first time in late September 2026 and deployed 26 Starlink satellites, but an engine failure ended the mission before it could complete its planned six revolutions, falling short of a 10-hour goal. The outcome fits a program whose 14 launches have produced between four and 11 failures depending on how they are counted, an approach CEO Elon Musk has framed as “fail fast, learn fast” since the first test flight exploded in April 2023. The stakes are high because Starship, the largest and most powerful rocket ever assembled, can carry five times the cargo of Falcon 9 and underpins SpaceX’s broader ambitions. SpaceX’s dominant position helps explain its tolerance for setbacks: BryceTech data show the company launched 85% of all spacecraft in 2025, including more than half of global orbital launches, while Orbital Radar puts Starlink’s 9,800 active satellites at over half the world’s total. Watch whether the next Starship flight completes a full orbital profile and how quickly SpaceX resumes Starlink deployment on the vehicle.