Starship Flight 14 Webcam – SpaceX’s First Orbital Test

The Starship Flight 14 Webcam carries Spaceflight Now’s live broadcast of SpaceX’s first orbital Starship test, launched from Pad 2 at Starbase on the southern tip of the Texas Gulf Coast. Coverage follows the mission from the launch site to orbit, with views from cameras mounted on the ship itself. About 35 minutes after liftoff, the onboard camera looked down on open ocean and rows of cloud from roughly 277 kilometers (172 miles) up, with the S41 lettering visible on the ship’s steel hull. This is a mission broadcast rather than a permanent camera. It runs for the length of Spaceflight Now’s coverage, and once that ends the player normally switches to the recorded replay. The round-the-clock view of the Starbase launch pads lives on our separate SpaceX Starbase Webcam.

About Starship Flight 14

Starship Flight 14 lifted off at 12:46 UTC on September 28, 2026, which was 7:46 a.m. local time in Texas, from Orbital Launch Pad 2 at Starbase. The stack paired Super Heavy booster B21 with Ship 41, both Block 3 vehicles. It is the first Starship flight planned to reach a sustained orbit, and the first to deploy Starlink V3 satellites into orbit: 26 of them, flying as Starlink Group 31-1. Three of those satellites carry cameras to photograph the ship’s heat shield once they separate.

The flight plan sends the booster back for a splashdown offshore in the Gulf of Mexico, while the ship releases its satellites between roughly 34 and 64 minutes into the flight. Starship then stays in orbit for about eight and a half hours before a deorbit burn, reentry and a splashdown in the Pacific Ocean. The broadcast is built around those milestones, so its busiest stretches tend to be liftoff, the satellite release and the final descent.

Starbase itself is a young city. Residents voted 212 to 6 on May 3, 2025 to incorporate the former Boca Chica Village, once known as Kopernik Shores, and the city became official on May 20, 2025. At incorporation it covered about 3.9 square kilometers (1.5 square miles) around the SpaceX facilities and homes along State Highway 4, with a population of roughly 500. The city lies just south of the South Bay lagoon and about 3.2 kilometers (2 miles) north of the mouth of the Rio Grande, which marks the border with Mexico.

Weather and Climate in Starbase

Starbase shares the semi-tropical climate of the Brownsville area, where temperatures typically run from about 12 C (53 F) on the coolest winter nights to 34 C (94 F) on summer afternoons, and rarely drop below 4 C (40 F) or climb above 36 C (97 F). Summers are long, hot and humid. Winters are mild, with most days well above freezing. Spring and fall bring waves of migrating birds along the coast, and late summer into early fall is the heart of the Atlantic hurricane season, when tropical systems in the Gulf can upset launch schedules.

Flight 14 left the pad shortly after sunrise, with the sun only a few degrees above the horizon at Boca Chica, so the launch itself happened in low early light. By the time the ship reached orbit, its cameras were looking down on sunlit ocean and scattered cloud, and the onboard picture changes as the ship moves between day and night on each orbit.

Things to Do Near Starbase

Boca Chica Beach starts where State Highway 4 meets the Gulf, about 37 kilometers (23 miles) east of Brownsville, and is one of the last undeveloped beaches on the Texas coast. The shoreline is part of the Lower Rio Grande Valley National Wildlife Refuge, where piping plovers, red knots and roseate spoonbills feed along the flats and endangered Kemp’s ridley sea turtles come ashore to nest. Elsewhere in the refuge there are more than 96 kilometers (60 miles) of hiking and biking trails, plus the 22.9 kilometer (14.2 mile) Steve Thompson Wildlife Drive for exploring by car. On the drive out along Highway 4, historic markers point to Palmito Ranch Battlefield, the site of the last battle of the American Civil War.

Brownsville is the nearest city. The Gladys Porter Zoo there covers 12.5 hectares (31 acres) with about 1,600 animals, arranged into Africa, Asia, Tropical America and Indo-Australia sections, and it is known for breeding endangered species. Up the coast on South Padre Island, Sea Turtle Inc. rescues and rehabilitates injured sea turtles and runs public tours, while the South Padre Island Birding and Nature Center sits on a major migratory flyway that draws hundreds of species each spring and fall.

Similar Webcams You Might Like

For more rockets, orbit views and the South Texas coast, try these cameras next.

• SpaceX Starbase Webcam
• ISS Live Feed Webcam
• Port Canaveral Webcam
• South Padre Island Webcam

Frequently Asked Questions

Where is Starbase located?

Starbase is a city in Cameron County, Texas, on State Highway 4 near Boca Chica Beach at the southern end of the Texas Gulf Coast. It lies about 3.2 kilometers (2 miles) north of the mouth of the Rio Grande and the Mexican border, and Boca Chica Beach is about 37 kilometers (23 miles) east of Brownsville.

What can you see on the Starship Flight 14 Webcam?

Spaceflight Now’s coverage of the mission, which follows the launch from Pad 2 and the climb to orbit, with live views from cameras on the ship. Around 35 minutes in, the onboard camera showed the ship’s hull against the ocean from about 277 kilometers (172 miles) up, traveling at more than 26,000 km/h (16,000 mph).

When did Starship Flight 14 launch?

At 12:46 UTC on September 28, 2026, which was 7:46 a.m. Central Daylight Time, from Orbital Launch Pad 2 at Starbase, Texas.

Why is the Starship Flight 14 Webcam not live anymore?

It is a one-off mission broadcast, not a permanent camera. Spaceflight Now streams it for the length of its flight coverage, and after that the player normally shows the recorded replay. For a live view of the launch pads at any hour, use the SpaceX Starbase Webcam.

What is Starship carrying on Flight 14?

26 Starlink V3 satellites, flying as Starlink Group 31-1. It is the first time SpaceX has deployed V3 satellites into orbit, and three of them carry cameras to image Starship’s heat shield.

Where do the booster and ship land after Flight 14?

The Super Heavy booster is planned to splash down offshore in the Gulf of Mexico. Starship is planned to spend about eight and a half hours in orbit before reentering and splashing down in the Pacific Ocean.

What is the weather like in Starbase?

Warm and humid for most of the year. Temperatures in the Brownsville area typically range from 12 C (53 F) to 34 C (94 F), and late summer and early fall carry the highest risk of tropical storms from the Gulf.

Source: Spaceflight Now