Alright, we don’t want to jinx it, but it’s looking like SpaceX will finally attempt to launch Starship V3 during the evening of Thursday, May 21. This new iteration of the company’s super-heavy-lift rocket is the biggest, most powerful launch vehicle ever built. A successful maiden voyage could signal the start of a new era for SpaceX—and the spaceflight industry writ large. Late Tuesday evening, SpaceX shared several photos of Starship V3 getting stacked on the launch pad at Starbase, Texas. The company had planned to launch Flight 12 on Tuesday but has bumped the mission back by 24 hours every day since Sunday. Now, the latest target appears to have stuck. As of Wednesday afternoon, SpaceX is aiming to launch Starship V3 during a window that opens at 6:30 p.m. ET on Thursday. SpaceX’s live webcast of the flight test will begin about 45 minutes before liftoff, and you can watch via the company’s website, its X page, or any of the third-party livestreams below.
Starship V3 faces its first test This mission will be the 12th test flight of SpaceX’s Starship rocket, but the first for this version of the vehicle. CEO Elon Musk has said that almost every part of Starship V3 is different from its predecessor, Starship V2. Indeed, engineers not only made this rocket bigger but also gave it numerous upgrades to support increased payload capacity and—in theory—quicker turnaround between flights. Starship V3 is also designed for orbital refueling, which will be critical for missions to the Moon and beyond.
