SpaceX launches Starship on 1st orbital flight attempt

LOS ANGELES -- SpaceX launched its giant Starship rocket on its first orbital flight attempt on Monday.

The rocket lifted off from SpaceX's Starbase facility in the US state of Texas at about 7:48 am Central Time (1248 GMT).

According to SpaceX, the Super Heavy booster is scheduled to splash down in the Gulf of Mexico, while the Starship upper stage is expected to enter orbit at an altitude of about 275 km.

The upper stage is planned to complete about six orbits around Earth during a nearly 10-hour flight before splashing down in the Pacific Ocean to the west of Chile.

The mission will also deploy 26 next-generation Starlink V3 satellites to orbit for the first time.