&imwidth=800&imheight=600&format=webp&quality=medium "SpaceX postpones launch of Starship V3 after several countdown disruptions; rescheduled for Friday")
SpaceX postponed the launch of its massive Starship V3 rocket on Thursday (May 21) after the spacecraft had already been fully fueled at the company’s newly built launch facility in Starbase, southern Texas. A 90-minute launch window opened at 6:30 pm ET, but the rocket never lifted off. During the company’s live broadcast, SpaceX hosts confirmed they had ‘got the vehicle totally loaded’ before the launch was officially scrubbed. SpaceX has not announced an exact new launch time, though another attempt is expected on Friday (May 22).
What is Starship V3, and why does the launch matter?
The delayed mission involved Starship Version 3, the newest and most advanced version of SpaceX’s flagship rocket system. When fully stacked, the two-stage rocket stands 408 feet tall and produces 18 million pounds of thrust, making it the most powerful rocket ever developed by the company. According to SpaceX’s IPO prospectus filed Wednesday, the rocket is designed to “deliver 100 metric tons to Earth's orbit in a fully reusable configuration while enabling rapid turnaround times akin to commercial aviation.”
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Flight 12 was set to become the first test mission using the Version 3 upgrade. Throughout 2025, SpaceX successfully completed five flights using Starship Version 2, though the transition to the newer model faced major setbacks. Two separate explosions during ground testing destroyed a Super Heavy booster and a Starship upper-stage vehicle before the latest launch preparations. No astronauts or operational payloads were onboard the rocket. Instead, SpaceX loaded mock Starlink satellites for testing purposes.
What are its mission objectives?
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The planned suborbital mission included several technical demonstrations and engineering tests. Twenty Starlink simulator satellites were scheduled for deployment over approximately 10 minutes beginning about 17 minutes after liftoff. Two specially modified Starlink satellites were also intended to inspect Starship’s heat shield and transmit images back to mission control. Engineers painted several heat shield tiles white to imitate damaged or missing sections, helping test future inspection methods designed to evaluate heat shield safety during orbital missions.
The mission also planned a mid-flight relight of a Raptor engine roughly 39 minutes into the flight during a coast phase. The test would provide valuable data for future deorbiting operations as SpaceX works toward fully orbital Starship missions. Unlike previous missions, Super Heavy Booster 19 was not expected to attempt a tower catch. Instead, the booster was scheduled for a controlled splashdown in the Gulf of Mexico around seven minutes after launch. Ship 39, the upper-stage spacecraft, was expected to complete its own controlled splashdown in the Indian Ocean more than an hour later.
