SpaceX has flown Starship V3 for the primary time in a check flight that met maximum of its targets. The corporate needed to step down from a release strive at the night of Would possibly 21, Thursday, because of a technical factor. Particularly, a hydraulic pin maintaining the spacecraft’s tower arm in position would now not retract. However on Friday night time, not anything avoided SpaceX from launching the upgraded model of its spacecraft designed for trips to the moon and Mars.
Liftoff of Starship! pic.twitter.com/LQLdjK5V6K
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) May 22, 2026
The release car ignited all 33 of its Tremendous Heavy booster’s new Raptor 3 engines after which lifted off at 6:30PM Japanese time from Starbase, Texas. All through ascent, one of the most booster’s engines close down, however Starship persisted its flight till it was once time for the levels to split. The booster was once ready to accomplish a directional turn maneuver, which the corporate sought after to check for long term missions. Alternatively, it was once not able to mild all of the engines had to carry out a a success boostback burn, the opposite maneuver important for the rocket so as to shuttle again against its touchdown website.
It was once most effective ready to do a partial boostback burn prior to falling again to Earth and crashing down into the Gulf of Mexico (renamed the Gulf of The usa in 2025 through President Donald Trump). It wasn’t a loss, on the other hand: SpaceX were catching Tremendous Heavy boosters with its release tower’s mechanical fingers in earlier flights, however it by no means supposed to recuperate this one.
In the meantime, the upper-stage Send was once nonetheless ready to succeed in its deliberate trajectory regardless of dropping one among six Raptor 3 engines. Round half-hour after liftoff, it deployed the 20 Starlink simulators and two changed Starlink satellites it was once wearing. The changed satellites, which have been at the identical suborbital trajectory as the higher level, took photographs of Send in house.
Perspectives of Starship in house from a @Starlink satellite tv for pc pic.twitter.com/5hfw1n8v1o
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) May 22, 2026
When Send re-entered the Earth’s environment, it accrued knowledge at the efficiency of its warmth protect right through the burn. In any case, it pulled off maneuvers SpaceX sought after it to do to worry check its rear flap and to imitate the trajectory of long term missions returning to their release website. After a touchdown turn and a touchdown burn on two Raptor engines, it splashed down and exploded within the Indian Ocean.
Splashdown showed! Congratulations to all the SpaceX workforce at the 12th flight check of Starship! pic.twitter.com/XXBAtryPpL
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) May 22, 2026
Regardless of the engine screw ups, SpaceX leader Elon Musk congratulated his workforce “on an epic first Starship V3 release and touchdown,” telling them they “scored a objective for humanity.” SpaceX controlled to drag a in large part a success check flight, simply in time for its IPO. The corporate simply publicly filed its IPO forms with the Securities and Change Fee, and Reuters mentioned its stocks are anticipated to start out buying and selling on June 12.
