Starship V3 Actually Works! Mostly...

Added: 2026-05-26

[00:00:00]This week at Starbase was busy and exciting as launch preparations entered their final phase and we finally saw the inaugural launch of the Block 3 vehicles. Was Flight 12 a success or a problem for SpaceX? Well, let's dig in and find out.

[00:00:16]This week seemed to be destined to be launch week as from the beginning everything was clearly focused on final launch preparations. Late on Friday, the Starlink loader box was moved to Mega Bay 2, although it was moved back out of the building just a few hours later.

[00:00:31]Before dawn on Saturday, ship 39 departed the Massie outpost, having successfully completed one final round of testing at the site to ensure it was ready for its upcoming trip to space.

[00:00:42]And within a few hours, the rocket arrived back at the build site and was taken into Mega Bay 2 for final preparations. Late that morning, the ship's static fire stand was brought back out of the building, indicating that the flight 12 Starship had been transferred to one of the work stands.

[00:00:58]Later on in the day, the ship transport stand was taken into the building, ready to transport the ship back to the launch complex in the near future. And that evening, the ship, now safely installed on the transport stand, was brought out into the former ringard area. The Starlink loader was then lifted inside the building and just a short time later, ship 39 joined the loader in Mega Bay 2, ready to have its payload bay partially filled. As flight 12 drew closer, regulatory filings continued to come in. The weekend saw the posting of both the temporary flight restrictions and the notice to mariners to clear the skies and seas for Starship's latest mission. With flight 12 marking the launch debut of Starship's new water deluge and water cooled launch mount deck, SpaceX continued to put these systems through rigorous testing. Over about a 2-day period, we saw four separate full tests of these powerful systems as they look to ensure they'll be up to the task of protecting stage zero from the fury of 33 Raptor 3 engines. Meanwhile, Monday evening, SpaceX squeezed in one last Block 3 test over at the Massie Outpost. The B18.3 test tank complete with the aft article on top was put through another round of cryogenic testing at the structural test structure. Later on in the evening, the Flight 12 Superheavy was rolled out of the booster bay onto Highway 4 and down the launch complex, completing its final trip over the road. Once the rocket arrived, it was quickly taken through the complex and parked between the waiting arms of Pad 2 Mechazilla.

[00:02:28]Shortly after dawn on Tuesday, booster 19 was lifted off its transport stand for the final time. The chopsticks raised the rocket into the air, rotated it over, and carefully lowered it onto the pad to launch mount. Once the booster was secured on the mount, the chopsticks released it and moved into position to await ship 39. And a short time later, both of the booster quick disconnects were open, extended, and connected to the flight 12 superheavy.

[00:02:54]back up the road at the build site.

[00:02:56]While the booster was being transferred onto the launch mount, ship 39 was moved out of Mega Bay 2. With the pad now ready for it, the Starship was brought onto Highway 4 and taken down towards the beach. After the short trip, the rocket was rolled into the launch site and moved between the waiting chopsticks. The arms were then raised to the ship's lifting points, and a few hours later, the lower stabilizer arms were extended and attached to the lower points. Just a short time later, the chopsticks lifted ship 39 off its transport stand and began the climb up the tower. Once high enough, the rocket was rotated over and slowly lowered into position to top booster 19, completing the flight 12 stack for the final time.

[00:03:38]That evening, the ship quick disconnect interface was extended and attached to ship 39. About a half hour later, SpaceX performed a test retraction with the interface. After the test, the quick disconnect was extended and attached once more. This time, workers soon extended the access platform to inspect the connections. Following a few hours of inspections, venting was seen from partway on the arm, possibly indicating a purge of the piping. The chopsticks were then open and raised into the launch position as the tank farm was spun up and stage zero cooled down. Both vehicles were then filled with a partial load of cryogenics before eventually detanking and depressing. It seems that SpaceX wasn't interested in a final wet dress rehearsal, but rather just enough testing to ensure everything was working as expected. With the vehicle testing completed now, the chopsticks were lowered and closed back around ship 39.

[00:04:29]Before completely wrapping up for the day, SpaceX squeezed in a few additional test to ensure the pad's readiness.

[00:04:36]First up, the deluge system was activated, flooding the trench with water. Next, the ship quick disconnect was put through another rapid retraction, followed by the interface extending and reattaching to the rocket.

[00:04:47]The next morning, SpaceX jumped right into launch day activities. At dawn, the detonation suppression system was activated, getting one final test of the system. In ship 39 then waved goodbye as SpaceX performed a round of actuation tests on the Starship's flaps. Late that morning, Highway 4 was closed as SpaceX got to work clearing the area for launch. And that afternoon, the chopsticks were opened and once again raised into launch position. About an hour and a half later, the roadblock was pushed back, indicating that the countdown was progressing and volatiles would soon be making their way into the vehicles. The countdown progressed steadily, and both vehicles were rapidly filled with propellant. Unfortunately, SpaceX ran into an issue as they entered into the terminal count. After holding at t-minus 40 seconds to try to troubleshoot the issue, it was eventually determined that it could not be fixed remotely. The final attempt was scrubbed and the vehicles detanked.

[00:05:41]Thanks to a post from Elon, we learned that the hydraulic pin that holds the ship quick disconnect arm in place failed to retract, leading to the decision to abort. Meanwhile, up the road at the build site, the booster crew was looking past version 3's pending debut. Just hours before the launch of flight 12, another section of booster 21's liquid oxygen tank moved from Star Factory to Mega Bay 1. This appeared to be the fifth section, which would indicate that the fourth snuck by unnoticed earlier in the week.

[00:06:10]Overnight, crews worked to repair the issue with the retention pin on the ship quick disconnect arm. Eventually, they were successful, and our Rover 2 camera was able to catch several tests of the new functioning locking pin. On Friday, the road was once again closed, the chopsticks open and raised into the launch position, and the pad cleared as SpaceX prepared for another launch attempt. That afternoon, propellant began to flow into the stack once again.

[00:06:36]As SpaceX entered into the terminal count, we were once again met with a hold. Fortunately, this was just to allow a little extra time for the fuel push backs to the propellant farm, and the count was quickly resumed. At 5:30 p.m. Starbase time, the Block 3 Starship and Super Heavy finally had their long-awaited debut. The water systems activated, 33 Raptors lit, and booster 19 and ship 39 launched into the Texas skies. The stack accelerated rapidly as it pitched down range and flew over the Gulf. The ascent looked good with the rocket breezing through max Q and heading on towards the most engine cutoff. Although the booster did lose one engine about a minute and 45 seconds into flight. Next, the booster dropped down to five engines as planned. Ship 39 lit its Raptors. First, the vacuum engines, followed quickly by the three center sea level engines. The clamps were released and the booster began its flip as the ship powered onward. Unlike its predecessors, this Block 3 booster doesn't rely on the launch mount to start its outer 20 engines. This fact, coupled with the increased power of the Raptor 3 meant that at stage separation, the vehicles were moving roughly 1,000 km per hour faster than on flight 11.

[00:07:47]So, SpaceX decided to try something new with a boost back burn. On previous missions, the boost back utilized only three inner 13 engines. This time, SpaceX opted to attempt to use all 33 engines for the initial stage of the boost back burn to help burn off speed more quickly. Unfortunately, this didn't work out well for the booster. Whether it was due to the attempt to use all of the engines, potential damage from the single engine that failed on ascent, or some other unknown issue, within seconds of boost back ignition, all but five of the engines had shut back down with the remaining five only burning for another 10 seconds or so before all the booster engines were off. Fortunately, SpaceX had always intended for this booster to be ditched in the Gulf, although under more controlled circumstances. The booster did seem to be able to control its orientation and re-entry, although it was significantly faster than intended. At least one engine was lit before the landing burn, but booster 19 still impacted the water at a high speed and contact was lost. Meanwhile, as ship 39 was continuing its ascent, one of the ship's vacuum engines was lost less than a minute after stage separation.

[00:08:54]Starship, however, is built with engine out capability, and the avionics package was able to utilize the remaining engines and keep the ship moving.

[00:09:03]Following second engine cutoff, SpaceX let us know that while the ship may not have quite achieved nominal orbital insertion, its trajectory was within the bounds of the mission and they were able to continue as it coasted around the planet. Ship 39 was able to successfully deploy its payload. For this mission, the ship carried the heaviest payload of the Starship program to date as 20 Starlink simulators as well as two operational satellites that SpaceX dubbed Dodger Dogs were successfully deployed. These two modified Starlink satellites allowed SpaceX to both test out various systems for the next iteration of their satellites and also utilize cameras on the satellites to get new inspace views of Starship. And boy were those views spectacular. Due to the engine issues on ascent, SpaceX opted to skip the planned inspace engine relight.

[00:09:53]The rest of the coast phase passed nominally with the ship eventually re-entering the atmosphere on its way to a splashdown in the Indian Ocean. During its descent, SpaceX performed some aggressive maneuvers similar to those seen on previous flights to test how much stress the rocket can handle on re-entry. Ship 39 passed with flying colors as it continued toward its target site. A little over an hour after launching, ship 39 began its banking maneuver. This maneuver is intended to simulate a return to the launch site on future missions when the ship will fly over the Gulf, then bank back into the launch site for a catch. About 2 and 1/2 minutes later, the ship was subsonic once again and began its final turn into the landing zone. As the ship approached the water, it lit two engines, flipped, and decelerated. It dropped down to one engine as it performed a soft landing on target in the Indian Ocean, where it then toppled and exploded. All in all, the debut of the Block 3 versions of the Starship and Superheavy appeared to be a success, but with room for improvement.

[00:10:54]The booster performed nominally during its ascent and accomplished its primary function by delivering the ship to stage separation. Obviously, there's still work to be done to ensure future boosters will be able to make it back to the tower and be rapidly reusable, but it seems like a decent outcome for the booster's debut. For Starship, despite losing an engine on ascent, ship 39 was able to deploy its payload, survive an aggressive re-entry, and land on a precise target in the Indian Ocean. The debut of Block 3 was a big improvement over the first missions for Block 2. And given what we've seen SpaceX to be capable of with this program, it seems quite reasonable that they can address these issues and get back to the flights this summer. A post-launch pan around the complex showed that Stage Zero's major systems appear to have held up fairly well to the debut of Block 3.

[00:11:44]Unfortunately, the same can't be said for SpaceX's Gateway to Mars sign along the wall at the edge of the pad. It seems that SpaceX will need to find a new location for their greeting to visitors.

[00:11:56]Well, that's going to do it for this week's exciting Starbase and Starship weekly update. We hope you enjoyed the show and we'll see you next week.