SpaceX's newest version of its massive Starship, the world's largest and most powerful rocket, is now scheduled to launch on a critical test flight no earlier than Thursday, May 21, at 6:30 p.m. EDT (2230 GMT) from Starbase, Texas, two days later than initially announced.
Launch livestream | Starship V3 upgrades explained | SpaceX
SpaceX Starship Flight 12 will now launch on May 21
The test flight will send Starship's upper stage on a suborbital trajectory partway around the world, with splashdown coming in the Indian Ocean off Western Australia about 65 minutes after liftoff. Starship's Super Heavy first stage will make a controlled splashdown of its own in the Gulf of Mexico about seven minutes after launch.
Flight 12 will mark the debut of Starship Version 3 (V3), the biggest and most powerful iteration of the rocket to date. It features many upgrades over its predecessors, which helps explain the long gap in Starship flights. The megarocket last took to the sky in October 2025.
What time is Starship V3 launch? Road closure clues
With SpaceX's Starship V3 test flight just a few days away, I thought it might be helpful to make a guide to the timing of the mission.
In my latest story - helpfully titled "What time is SpaceX's Starship V3 launch on May 20? (Starship Flight 12 timeline)" - I've laid out a what has become a fairly standard timeline for SpaceX's Starship launches. Based on the information we have now, it is a pretty good idea of what to expect.
Here's the basics:
On Wednesday, May 20, SpaceX will attempt to launch its Starship V3 at 6:30 p.m. EDT (2230 GMT). It will actually be 5:30 p.m. local time at SpaceX's Starbase, Texas launch site.
SpaceX's livestream of the launch will begin about 45 minutes BEFORE liftoff, so you'll want to tune in around 5:45 p.m. EDT (2145 GMT).
HOWEVER! SpaceX has said the launch window opens at 6:30 p.m. EDT, so there is wiggle room and the exact time could change. In the past, Starship launch windows have varied from 30 minutes to 2 hours. So it's possible the launch time will be later what SpaceX has said.
The launch day could change as well. In fact it already has. As I say in my piece, SpaceX initially aimed for a May 19 launch, but pushed the Starship flight back 24 hours without explanation (probably for more preflight checks).
But TODAY, we received a new road closure alert from Starbase, Texas officials. That alert states that the town is closing off public access to the roads around SpaceX's Starbase test site (which is near a public beach), from May 19 through the end of May 21, which suggests a potential back up launch day of at least May 21 is available.
SpaceX Starship Flight 12 will now launch on May 20
Hello, Space Fans, and welcome to our coverage of SpaceX's newest Starship rocket, the Starship V3 booster, which will launch the much-anticipated Flight 12 test flight this week.
We were expecting the launch to occur on Tuesday, May 19, but over the weekend SpaceX updated its plans and pushed the launch back by 24 hours. SpaceX's Flight 12 Starship V3 launch is now scheduled for no earlier than Wednesday (May 20) from Pad 2 at the company's Starbase, Texas test site. Liftoff is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. EDT (2230 GMT).
It's been seven long months since SpaceX's Starship Flight 11 launch last fall. In 2025, SpaceX launched five Starship test flights, but Flight 12 will be the first Starship mission of 2026.
A lot is riding on this flight. NASA needs Starship to work in order to serve as the lander for its Artemis 4 astronauts during a lunar landing mission in 2028. SpaceX is relying on the fully reusable Starship to dramatically lower launch costs for its human spaceflight projects, Starlink internet satellites and plans for orbital data centers.
SpaceX has yet to launch a Starship into orbit or on a mission with an actual payload (though recent flights have carried dummy Starlink satellites).
Flight 12 will do much the same as its predecessors. It will launch a Starship upper stage on a suborbital flight that will make a water-based landing and splashdown in the Indian Ocean. During the flight, the Ship will deploy 20 dummy Starlink satellites, and two modified probes that will use cameras to beam photos of the Ship back to Earth.
The Super Heavy booster, meanwhile, will return to Earth to make a water-based landing and splashdown in the Gulf of Mexico off the coast from Starbase.
Future Starship launches will likely attempt to return both the Super Heavy and Starship upper stage to the two pads at Starbase, where they will be caught by the giant metal arms of SpaceX's "Mechazilla" pad structure. Those landings and captures are a core plan of the reusability of the Starship system, and SpaceX has already captured Super Heavy on its Pad 1 several times.