SpaceX Launches Starship V3 From Starbase Texas, Deploys Mock Starlink Satellites

SpaceX carried out its 12th test flight of a Starship prototype on Friday, launching the upgraded Starship V3 from Starbase, Texas, around 5:30 p.m. CT (2230 GMT) and executing a controlled splashdown in the Indian Ocean after a suborbital cruise.

“SpaceX launched the first test flight of its upgraded Starship rocket and Super Heavy booster Friday, with mostly positive results”

Ars Technica

The flight deployed a payload of 20 mock Starlink satellites one by one and also released two actual modified satellites that scanned the spacecraft's heat shield and transmitted data back to operators during descent.

Ars Technica

SpaceX said it would not attempt a safe return landing or recovery of either the booster or the Starship upper stage, even if all else went as planned, and the test ended about 65 minutes later when the Starship vehicle splashed down and exploded in a fireball.

Fire service chief Mahmud Iqbal said rescue crews found most of the victims near the stairwells on the third and fourth floors, and the BBC reported witnesses said the factory's main exit was locked when the fire broke out.

Kathleen Curlee, a research analyst at Georgetown University's Center for Security and Emerging Technology, said the test appeared to have achieved several key objectives despite “some anomalies,” and she said it would provide SpaceX with significant operational and engineering data moving forward.

Elon Musk welcomed the outcome with a message posted to his X platform, congratulating his "SpaceX team on an epic first Starship V3 launch & landing!" as the rocket’s Super Heavy booster failed to complete a planned boost-back burn after separating from Starship.

NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman congratulated Musk and the SpaceX team, posting on X: “One step closer to the Moon… one step closer to Mars,” as the test flight came ahead of SpaceX’s initial public offering set to be the largest in Wall Street history.

Boursorama

CNN described the debut as mixed success, noting that Starship managed to complete a controlled splashdown in the Indian Ocean despite operating without one of its engines, while the company faced increasing scrutiny from investors as it gears up for a record-shattering IPO.

The Economic Times said the outcome could boost investor confidence ahead of SpaceX's initial public offering next month, expected to be the largest in history, and it tied the stakes to Starship enabling more frequent Starlink satellite launches and future NASA missions to the moon.

SpaceNews reported that the Federal Aviation Administration said it was assessing the “anomaly” during the boostback burn and had not yet determined if it rose to the level of mishap that would require an investigation, while SpaceX’s Dan Huot said, “I wouldn’t call it nominal orbital insertion, but we’re on a trajectory that we had analyzed, and it’s within bounds.”

SpaceX said before the launch it would not attempt to land the booster or recover the Starship upper stage, and SpaceNews said the vehicle made a soft splashdown in the planned landing zone in the Indian Ocean about 66½ minutes after liftoff, tipping over and exploding as expected.

“SpaceX launched a Friday on a flight to test more powerful engines, enhanced control systems and a host of other upgrades needed to streamline operations and improve safety and reliability”

CBS News

The test flight’s data and the engine-out outcome feed into SpaceX’s next steps, with SpaceNews stating that the vehicle appeared to achieve most of its planned test objectives on Flight 12 and that SpaceX made significant changes to both the Super Heavy booster and Starship upper stage.

The Economic Times linked the stakes directly to the IPO, saying the outcome could boost investor confidence ahead of SpaceX's initial public offering next month and that Starship is critical to Musk's goals of cutting launch costs, expanding his Starlink business, and pursuing ambitions ranging from deep-space exploration to orbital data centers.

Scientific American said NASA administrator Jared Isaacman praised SpaceX before the test flight and nodded to Starship's anticipated role in future Artemis missions to return astronauts to the moon as soon as 2028, while it also noted that the Office of the Inspector General has warned SpaceX may be unable to deliver Starship in time for NASA's upcoming Artemis missions.

Seoul Economic Daily said NASA plans to develop a lunar lander based on Starship to send two astronauts to the moon in 2028, and it reported that the Super Heavy first-stage booster separated normally but its booster engines did not ignite sufficiently and failed to land upright on the sea.