May 21 (Reuters) – SpaceX is set to launch the 12th uncrewed test flight of its Starship rocket on Thursday, the debut of a redesigned vehicle central to Elon Musk’s plans for the moon, Mars and the company’s looming U.S. listing.
The Starship system, made up of SpaceX’s Super Heavy booster and Starship upper-stage vehicle, is designed to be fully reusable and is built to carry crew and cargo.
The debut flight of the Starship V3, outfitted with new features designed to support future missions to the moon and Mars, poses a key test for the spacecraft ahead of SpaceX’s market debut that is targeting a valuation of $1.75 trillion.
Here is a brief history of Starship launches:
TEST FLIGHT 1 – APRIL 20, 2023
The Starship spacecraft exploded minutes after liftoff from South Texas, falling short of reaching several mission objectives.
Even though the two-stage rocket ship made it less than halfway to the edge of space, climbing to just under 25 miles (40.23 km), the flight met its main goal of getting the new vehicle off the launch pad despite multiple engine failures.
TEST FLIGHT 2 – NOVEMBER 18, 2023
Starship lifted off from Starbase’s launch site near Boca Chica, Texas, only to fail in space shortly after launch.
The Super Heavy first-stage booster separated from the core Starship, but exploded over the Gulf of Mexico soon after. The upper stage was also lost later in the flight.
TEST FLIGHT 3 – MARCH 14, 2024
Starship completed nearly an entire test flight on its third attempt, getting farther than ever before, but disintegrated on its return to Earth.
Contact with Starship cut out moments after a live video feed from a camera mounted on the vehicle showed a reddish glow enveloping the silvery spacecraft from the heat of re-entry.
TEST FLIGHT 4 – JUNE 6, 2024
Starship survived a fiery, hypersonic return from space and achieved a breakthrough controlled splashdown in the Indian Ocean, a major step for a vehicle designed to fly back from orbit.
During descent, heat-shield tiles and bits of metal tore away from the spacecraft and parts of its steering flaps were badly damaged, though they kept working long enough for the splashdown.
TEST FLIGHT 5 – OCTOBER 13, 2024
SpaceX’s launch tower caught Starship’s giant first-stage booster during its descent back to the Texas launch pad for the first time using giant mechanical arms.
The catch marked a breakthrough for SpaceX’s test campaign for a rocket intended to carry larger payloads to orbit, ferry astronauts to the moon for NASA and eventually fly to Mars.
TEST FLIGHT 6 – NOVEMBER 19, 2024
SpaceX launched its sixth Starship test flight, advancing the upper stage’s spaceflight abilities, but calling of an attempt to catch the booster back at the launch site as then U.S. President-elect Donald Trump watched in person.
The Super Heavy booster instead splashed down in the Gulf of Mexico after SpaceX diverted it away from the launch tower, indicating the vehicle did not meet the conditions needed for a catch attempt.
TEST FLIGHT 7 – JANUARY 16, 2025
A Starship rocket exploded in space over the Bahamas roughly eight minutes after launch, sending fields of blazing debris streaking across the sky over the Turks and Caicos Islands.
The rocket had multiple new onboard features flying for the first time and carried the first batch of mock satellites that were meant to be deployed in space.
The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration and officials from the Turks and Caicos Islands launched probes into the rocket test.
TEST FLIGHT 8 – MARCH 6, 2025
Starship’s upper stage exploded in space minutes after lifting off from Texas, prompting the FAA to briefly halt flights at airports in Miami, Fort Lauderdale, Palm Beach and Orlando because of “space launch debris.”
The FAA opened a mishap investigation into the incident. Musk called the explosion “a minor setback.”
MAY 22
The FAA cleared Starship to resume flights after the March failure, allowing SpaceX to procced with another launch from Texas.
The agency, however, expanded the Aircraft Hazard Area along Starship’s flight path from 885 nautical miles to 1,600 nautical miles, stretching east from the South Texas coast through the Straits of Florida and including the Bahamas and Turks and Caicos Islands
TEST FLIGHT 9 – MAY 27, 2025
Starship roared into space from Texas but spun out of control about halfway through its flight, missing several major test goals.
SpaceX also lost contact with the 232-foot Super Heavy booster during its descent before it fell into the sea, instead of making the controlled splashdown the company had planned.
The Starship upper stage reached suborbital space but began spinning uncontrollably about 30 minutes into the flight, after SpaceX canceled a planned deployment of eight mock Starlink satellites when the vehicle’s Pez dispenser-like mechanism failed to work as intended.
TEST FLIGHT 10 – AUGUST 26, 2025
Starship deployed its first batch of mock Starlink satellites in space and tested new heat shield tiles during re-entry, achieving development milestones that had been delayed by the recent run of failures.
About 30 minutes into the flight, the spacecraft’s Pez-like deployment system released eight dummy Starlink satellites, a key test for a rocket that SpaceX plans to use in its satellite launch business.
TEST FLIGHT 11 – OCTOBER 13, 2025
SpaceX launched its 11th Starship rocket from Texas and landed it in the Indian Ocean, the final flight before the company began testing a new version of the giant rocket outfitted with more features for moon and Mars missions.
After sending the Starship upper stage into space, Super Heavy returned for a soft splashdown in the Gulf of Mexico seven minutes after liftoff, testing a landing engine configuration before the booster was destroyed.
TEST FLIGHT 12 – EXPECTED ON MAY 21, 2026
The 12th test flight is expected to be the first launch of Starship V3 and its upgraded Super Heavy booster, as well as the first flight from a new launch pad built for the more powerful rocket.
Among the main upgrades is a redesign of the booster’s 33 Raptor engines to produce more thrust from a lighter design.
(Reporting by Juby Babu in Mexico City; Editing by Shailesh Kuber)
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