SpaceX Plans May 19 Spacex Starship Rocket Launch for Flight 12
SpaceX said its first Starship version 3 spacex starship rocket launch is planned for May 19 from Starbase in South Texas, with liftoff set for 6:30 p.m. Eastern. The flight, called Flight 12, will be the first time the new version flies.
The company announced the date on May 12, one day after a wet dress rehearsal on the pad. SpaceX also said the test will use upgraded Raptor engines, a new launch pad at Starbase, and a flight profile designed to show the new hardware in action for the first time.
Flight 12 at Starbase
SpaceX said the suborbital flight will use upgrades to both stages of Starship, and that the primary goal is to demonstrate those pieces in the flight environment. The company said in its statement: "The flight test’s primary goal will be to demonstrate each of these new pieces in the flight environment for the first time, with each element of the Starship architecture featuring significant redesigns to enable full and rapid reuse that incorporate learnings from years of development and test,"
During the flight, the Super Heavy booster will not return to the launch site. Instead, it is planned to make a soft splashdown in the Gulf of Mexico. The upper stage will deploy 22 mass simulators that model next-generation Starlink satellites, including two of those spacecraft with imagery payloads to scan the vehicle’s heat shield.
Flight 12 Test Plan
SpaceX said those payloads will test methods of checking whether the heat shield is ready to support a reentry and a later return to the launch site. Starship will also relight a single Raptor engine during the flight, then use reentry maneuvers intended to stress the vehicle and simulate future returns to launch sites. A single heat shield tile was intentionally removed to test aerodynamic forces on neighboring tiles.
The launch comes after a series of slips. After the previous Starship test flight in October, SpaceX projected Flight 12 could happen as soon as January. The Super Heavy booster originally built for the mission was damaged in November during testing, and Elon Musk later shifted the timing in social media posts from about six weeks, to four weeks, to four to six weeks.
Musk's Timeline Shift
Musk, SpaceX's chief executive, said in late January that Flight 12 would take place in about six weeks, or early March. By early March, he said the launch was four weeks away. In early April, he said it was four to six weeks away. SpaceX has not disclosed details of the delays, but the May 19 target now gives the company a fixed date to work toward.
For SpaceX, the first flight of version 3 is the key step. The company plans to use that version for orbital missions, and the May test is meant to show whether the redesigned vehicle and the new pad can support the next phase of the program.
