SpaceX Plans First Launch of Redesigned Starship V3 on May 19 from Texas

SpaceX is scheduled to fly the first Starship V3 on Tuesday, May 19, from a new pad at Starbase in South Texas. m. EDT with a 90-minute launch window. The flight marks the debut of a vehicle the company has rebuilt almost from scratch.

4 meters tall. 5 meters taller than its predecessor and the tallest rocket ever built. Both stages run on SpaceX’s new Raptor 3 engine. The Super Heavy booster on Starship V3 has 33 Raptor 3 engines.

Those engines generate over 18 million pounds of combined thrust at liftoff. The thrust is more than twice the thrust of NASA’s Saturn V rocket. A redesigned fuel transfer tube roughly the size of a Falcon 9 first stage equips the Starship V3.

The tube allows all 33 engines to ignite simultaneously. This change is among several modifications that distinguish the vehicle from earlier versions. Benzinga reported that the launch represents the last major test before SpaceX’s expected IPO roadshow.

The company has not released additional details on the mission profile or recovery plans for the booster and ship. The attempt will proceed only if conditions within the 90-minute window permit a safe liftoff. The booster has three grid fins rather than the four used on previous versions.

This reduction, paired with other hardware changes, contributes to the hotter staging environment the vehicle is designed to handle. Engineers have focused on simplifying the design while increasing performance.