Tag: Starship
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SpaceX’s new Starship pad readies for first launch
Over the last two years, SpaceX has been constructing a completely redesigned launch pad for Starship, drawing on lessons learned from the first 11 flights. The new pad alongside Block 3 of Starship is a clean-sheet design that should help SpaceX move toward a much more reusable launch pad. Flame Trench Pad 2 is a…
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SpaceX targets May 19 for debut of Starship Version 3, Launch Pad 2
SpaceX’s first Starship V3 rocket stands at Launch Pad 2 prior to a fueling demonstration on Monday, May 11, 2026. Image: SpaceX SpaceX is now targeting no earlier than Tuesday, May 19, for the long awaited debut of the third major iteration of its Starship-Super Heavy rocket. The announcement came the day after it completed…
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Launch Preview: SpaceX and Chinese missions fill busy launch manifest
The week of May 11 brings nine launches across the United States and China, spanning government and commercial operators on both sides of the Pacific. SpaceX’s Falcon 9 accounts for four missions: a Cargo Dragon resupply flight to the International Space Station, a classified National Reconnaissance Office payload from Vandenberg, a Starlink mission, and a…
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Full Stack Flight 12 completes WDR
Following Booster 19’s successful full-duration, full-thrust 33-engine static fire on May 7, 2026, its partner Ship 39 rolled out to join the booster and form the Flight 12 stack ahead of a Wet Dress Rehearsal. While Saturday’s attempt was scrubbed ahead of prop loading, a new attempt on Monday appeared to go as planned. Since…
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SpaceX is starting to move on from the world’s most successful rocket
It is far too soon to mention retirement, but astute observers of the space industry have noticed SpaceX’s workhorse Falcon 9 rocket is not launching as often as it used to. The decline is modest so far, and it does not signal any problem at SpaceX or with the Falcon 9. Rather, it is a…
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Pad 1 conversion ongoing, with Flight 12 nearing
Over six months after the end of Flight 11, the old design, Pad 1, was demolished, and conversion to the newer pad design, like Pad 2, is underway. In that time, crews have made impressive progress, with excavation of the trench about to start. Pad 1 Conversion Since the end of Flight 11, SpaceX…
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SpaceX aims for mid-May Starship Flight 12 launch with revised trajectory
The return of Starship launches may be just weeks away, with notices for the upcoming Flight 12 launch attempt publishing notification for windows opening as early as May 12. The move signals accelerating preparations for the first orbital test flight of the upgraded Version 3 Starship and Super Heavy vehicles, although engineers will have several…
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Starship Progress at the Cape with Hoping to Launch this year
As the first flight of Block 3 approaches, SpaceX continues to make progress on the Gigabay at Roberts Road and the launch pads at LC-39A and the first pad at SLC-37. SpaceX hopes to launch from LC-39A sometime this year. Roberts Road Over the past several months, SpaceX and its contractors have been making great…
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Ship 39 and Booster 19 Both Complete Full Engine Static Fires
Following the successful return of Orion, attention for the Artemis program has now shifted to SpaceX and Blue Origin to prepare a crewed lander in time for Artemis III. For SpaceX, this means getting Starship Block 3 flying and fully operational so that teams can begin building and launching the Human Landing System (HLS) variant.…
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Starship Super Heavy completes static fire with 33 Raptor engines
How many Raptor engines fired in SpaceX’s latest Super Heavy test? SpaceX completed a full-duration static fire test of its Super Heavy booster with all 33 Raptor engines igniting successfully on April 16, marking a critical milestone toward the next Starship integrated flight test. The test generated approximately 16.7 million pounds of thrust at sea…