
SpaceX’s new Starship V3 rocket is seen docked on the Starbase throughout the twelfth take a look at flight on Could 21, 2026 as seen from South Padre Island in Texas.
Ronaldo Schemidt | Afp | Getty Photos
SpaceX scrubbed the launch of its large Starship rocket Thursday night, and can strive once more for its twelfth take a look at flight on Friday.
A 90-minute launch window opened at 6:30 p.m. ET, on Thursday. Throughout a livestream of the occasion, SpaceX video hosts stated the corporate “obtained the car completely loaded” onto a brand new launch pad.
The rescheduled launch will signify the debut of Starship V3, which “is designed to ship 100 metric tons to Earth’s orbit in a totally reusable configuration whereas enabling speedy turnaround occasions akin to business aviation,” SpaceX stated in its IPO prospectus on Wednesday.
Elon Musk’s reusable rocket maker has spent greater than $15 billion on its Starship program, in line with Wednesday’s submitting. The corporate says Starship is essential to launching extra satellites into orbit to construct out its Starlink constellation at a sooner tempo than it has been capable of utilizing Falcon 9 rockets. Starlink delivers wi-fi web companies to shoppers, companies and authorities companies.
The newest model of the Starship rocket is slated to launch from a newly designed pad at SpaceX’s facility in Starbase, Texas, an official firm city beforehand often known as Boca Chica.
The take a look at flight possible marks the corporate’s final likelihood to dazzle traders with a Starship launch earlier than shares hit the general public market. Final yr, SpaceX’s area section generated income of $4.1 billion and recorded an working lack of $657 million.
The corporate counts on Starlink for a hefty quantity of income and all of its earnings. The connectivity unit, which consists largely of Starlink, introduced in gross sales of $11.4 billion and working earnings of $4.4 billion in 2025. That accounted for 61% of the corporate’s whole gross sales final yr, and 69% within the first quarter.
About its area enterprise, SpaceX stated in its prospectus that its “development technique depends upon our means to extend our launch cadence and payload capability, which depends on the profitable growth of Starship at scale.”
Musk has lengthy held the grandiose purpose of colonizing Mars, utilizing the Starship rocket to elevate cargo and as many as 100 folks at a time into orbit.
NASA can also be betting that Starship will function the lander to hold its astronauts to the moon on its Artemis IV mission, presently scheduled for early 2028. The mission would mark U.S. astronauts’ first journey again to the moon in additional than half a century.
Starship V3 stands 408 toes tall when totally stacked, and options new engines that ought to make it a stronger rocket, with 18 million kilos of thrust. The corporate is carrying mock Starlink satellites throughout the take a look at flight however no astronauts or different cargo.
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