SpaceX Targets 6:30 p.m. ET for Starship Version 3 Test Flight

M. ET Friday for the 12th test flight of its Starship megarocket. The launch will be the first flight of a new generation of scaled-up prototypes called Starship V3. The company scrubbed its first launch attempt on Thursday evening after automated checks detected issues with less than a minute remaining on the countdown clock.

SpaceX CEO Elon Musk stated that a hydraulic pin holding a tower arm in place did not retract.

The test will attempt a safe launch and ascent of the Super Heavy booster with the Starship spacecraft, followed by separation after the booster finishes burning its engines. SpaceX also plans to guide the booster to a controlled landing in the Gulf of Mexico.

Additional objectives include deploying 22 simulator satellites, relighting one of Starship’s Raptor engines during the coasting phase, and conducting maneuvers to collect data on heat shield performance and potential future returns to the launch tower.

This will be the first Starship flight since October, when the V2 prototype completed its final test. SpaceX experienced explosions during two V2 flights in January and March 2025 that scattered debris over parts of the Caribbean. The Federal Aviation Administration mapped a revised flight path that routes Starship south of Cuba, Haiti, and the Dominican Republic rather than over Turks and Caicos.

SpaceX will not attempt to catch the booster with the launch tower arms during this test. The company is working to prepare Starship for satellite launches and human missions, including NASA’s goal of landing astronauts on the moon by 2028.