SpaceX has concluded the 12th test flight of its Starship (V3) spacecraft from Starbase in southern Texas, following a launch suspension on Thursday due to technical issues.
The rocket’s upper stage, the Starship spacecraft, splashed down on Friday afternoon in the Indian Ocean after losing one of its six engines. The launch marked the spacecraft’s first test flight of the year and the debut of the rocket’s new version, the largest and most powerful ever developed by tycoon Elon Musk’s company.
During this flight, Starship reached space and successfully deployed 20 test Starlink satellites alongside two upgraded satellites featuring new technology, precisely as planned, before returning to Earth.
However, the spacecraft failed to restart one of its Raptor engines in the vacuum of space—a key objective set by SpaceX for this mission—as indicated during the live broadcast by company spokesperson Dan Huot.
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During Friday’s liftoff, which went ahead after a failed attempt the previous afternoon, the Super Heavy booster separated minutes after launch and made an uncontrolled landing in the Gulf of Mexico.
The mission marked the debut of the V3 configuration on both the Super Heavy booster and the Starship upper stage, coming just days after SpaceX announced plans to go public.
Furthermore, this Starship test comes at a critical moment for the civil space race. NASA is closely monitoring the program, as it requires the Block 3 version of Starship to transport astronauts to the lunar surface for the Artemis mission.
The crewed mission to the Moon has been postponed from late 2026 to mid-2027, partly due to delays in the rocket’s development.
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SpaceX is in direct competition with Blue Origin, the aerospace company owned by tycoon Jeff Bezos, which offers the Blue Moon system as an alternative.
The program’s recent track record has been irregular. The most recent test flight, conducted in March 2025, ended with the rocket exploding just ten minutes after liftoff, causing airspace disruptions over Florida and the Caribbean.
