SpaceX has flown Starship V3 for the first time in a test flight that met most of its targets. The corporate needed to step down from a launch try on the night of Could 21, Thursday, on account of a technical situation. Particularly, a hydraulic pin holding the spacecraft’s tower arm in place wouldn’t retract. However on Friday night time, nothing prevented SpaceX from launching the upgraded model of its spacecraft designed for journeys to the moon and Mars.
Liftoff of Starship! pic.twitter.com/LQLdjK5V6K
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) May 22, 2026
The launch car ignited all 33 of its Tremendous Heavy booster’s new Raptor 3 engines after which lifted off at 6:30PM Jap time from Starbase, Texas. Throughout ascent, one of many booster’s engines shut down, however Starship continued its flight till it was time for the levels to separate. The booster was capable of carry out a directional flip maneuver, which the corporate needed to check for future missions. Nonetheless, it was unable to gentle all of the engines wanted to carry out a profitable boostback burn, the opposite maneuver vital for the rocket to have the ability to journey again in the direction of its touchdown website.
It was solely capable of do a partial boostback burn earlier than falling again to Earth and crashing down into the Gulf of Mexico (renamed the Gulf of America in 2025 by President Donald Trump). It wasn’t a loss, nevertheless: SpaceX had been catching Tremendous Heavy boosters with its launch tower’s mechanical arms in earlier flights, but it surely by no means meant to get well this one.
In the meantime, the upper-stage Ship was nonetheless capable of obtain its deliberate trajectory regardless of shedding one in every of six Raptor 3 engines. Round half-hour after liftoff, it deployed the 20 Starlink simulators and two modified Starlink satellites it was carrying. The modified satellites, which have been on the identical suborbital trajectory because the higher stage, took photographs of Ship in area.
Views of Starship in area from a @Starlink satellite tv for pc pic.twitter.com/5hfw1n8v1o
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) May 22, 2026
When Ship re-entered the Earth’s environment, it gathered information on the efficiency of its warmth protect through the burn. Lastly, it pulled off maneuvers SpaceX needed it to do to emphasize check its rear flap and to imitate the trajectory of future missions returning to their launch website. After a touchdown flip and a touchdown burn on two Raptor engines, it splashed down and exploded within the Indian Ocean.
Splashdown confirmed! Congratulations to your entire SpaceX group on the twelfth flight check of Starship! pic.twitter.com/XXBAtryPpL
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) May 22, 2026
Regardless of the engine failures, SpaceX chief Elon Musk congratulated his group “on an epic first Starship V3 launch and touchdown,” telling them they “scored a purpose for humanity.” SpaceX managed to drag a largely profitable check flight, simply in time for its IPO. The corporate simply publicly filed its IPO paperwork with the Securities and Alternate Fee, and Reuters mentioned its shares are anticipated to begin buying and selling on June 12.
