SpaceX is getting ready to launch the latest and greatest iteration of its super heavy-lift rocket. Starship V3 is the biggest, most powerful launch vehicle ever built, and its debut will have a transformative impact on the commercial spaceflight industry—if it doesn’t blow up. Admittedly, the rocket’s journey to the launch pad has been a little rough. The booster exploded during pre-launch testing back in November, and in April, its Raptor 3 engines did too. Considering the huge technical leap between Starship V2 and V3, it’s understandable that SpaceX ran into some issues. Now, the company is confident that it has worked out the kinks. It aims to launch Starship V3 for the first time during a launch window that opens at 6:30 p.m. ET on May 19. Ahead of the launch, SpaceX shared new details about the upgrades that put this rocket in a league of its own. Here are 3 reasons why Starship V3 will be a spaceflight game changer.
1. Significantly increased payload capacity The rocket’s Super Heavy booster is equipped with 33 Raptor 3 engines, which together are expected to produce about 18 million pounds of thrust at liftoff, according to SpaceX. That’s nearly 10% more powerful than the previous generation of Super Heavy boosters. V3’s upper stage is equipped with six of these engines that together produce more than 3.3 million pounds of thrust.
