SpaceX Fuels Starship V3 for Flight 12 Rehearsal as May 21 Launch Slips to 6:30 p.m. EDT
Updated
Updated · Space.com · May 20
SpaceX Fuels Starship V3 for Flight 12 Rehearsal as May 21 Launch Slips to 6:30 p.m. EDT
4 articles · Updated · Space.com · May 20
SpaceX is conducting a wet dress rehearsal on May 20 for Starship V3 at Starbase, fully fueling the rocket and running countdown procedures ahead of Flight 12.
The rehearsal is the last major prelaunch test before a liftoff now set no earlier than May 21 at 6:30 p.m. EDT, after delays from May 19 and then May 20.
Flight 12 will be the first Starship launch in 7 months and the debut of Version 3, which carries upgrades aimed at improving the vehicle for future operational use.
The mission would send Ship 39 on a roughly 65-minute suborbital trip to splash down in the Indian Ocean, while Super Heavy Booster 19 targets a Gulf of Mexico splashdown about 7 minutes after launch.
Starship V3 is central to SpaceX plans for Starlink and other payloads, and to NASA's Artemis program, which needs the vehicle as a future lunar lander.
As auditors warn of critical safety risks, can Starship truly be ready for NASA's 2028 crewed moon landing?
Beyond moon landings, is Starship's true endgame building orbital data centers to power the future of artificial intelligence?
Starship will launch thousands of satellites, but what is the hidden environmental price of deorbiting them in Earth's atmosphere?
Starship V3 Flight 12: SpaceX’s Most Ambitious Launch Yet—Technical Breakthroughs, Artemis Impact, and Financial Stakes Ahead of IPO
Overview
Starship V3 Flight 12, launching on May 21, 2026 from SpaceX’s Starbase facility, marks a pivotal moment in space exploration. As the world’s largest and most powerful rocket, Starship’s core design focuses on full reusability, with both the booster and spacecraft engineered to return for future missions. This reusability is key to reducing the cost of space access. The V3 variant builds on these strengths and is central to major goals, including serving as NASA Artemis’s lunar lander and supporting future Mars missions, making this launch critical for the future of human spaceflight.