SpaceX launched its first giant Starship rocket in 2026, and the mission was a huge success. I’ll explain what happened.
For the first time in 2026, SpaceX’s giant Starship rocket blasts off on a momentous mission, roaring halfway around the globe.
The stakes couldn’t have been higher for billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk and the spaceflight company he founded in 2002. Not only is SpaceX rushing to develop its Starship spacecraft for lunar and interplanetary travel, it’s also preparing for a long-awaited initial public offering that will depend heavily on a successful launch.
Additionally, the rocket has been launched 12 times from South Texas since 2023, but the Starship rocket that launched on Friday, May 22, after a series of delays, is the largest and most powerful version launched by SpaceX.
Fortunately for Musk and his rocket company, the unmanned test flight appeared to go off without a hitch, with Starship accomplishing most of its key goals before a fiery finale more than an hour after liftoff.
Don’t want to miss the launch? Here’s a summary of everything that happened.
SpaceX launches Starship on 12th test flight from Starbase
SpaceX was originally aiming for a May 19 launch of Starship in 2026, but the launch was postponed three times, including one last-minute cancellation on May 21.
But the Starship rocket ultimately took off on time at 6:30 p.m. ET on Friday, May 22, making its first test flight since October 2025. The mission, dubbed “Flight 12” by SpaceX, will be the 12th time since April 2023 that Starship has launched from Starbase headquarters and corporate town in Texas, near the U.S.-Mexico border.
But this time, the Starship was launched from an entirely new launch pad at Starbase.
The launch pad, called Pad 2, is equipped with an upgraded “propellant farm” with storage capacity and more pumps, “allowing vehicles to be more quickly filled in preparation for launch,” SpaceX said in a lengthy online post. Additionally, the launch tower’s mechanical arm (commonly known as the “chopstick”), which is responsible for catching the returning booster, has been shortened to allow it to move more quickly to track and secure the descending booster.
Flight 12 unveils version 3 (V3) of Starship
Importantly, this flight test marked the debut of the third-generation prototype of SpaceX’s Starship. Standing 407 feet tall when fully stacked, the new version of Starship, known as Version 3 or V3, became the largest and most powerful rocket SpaceX has ever launched.
If all goes according to plan, Starship Version 3 will be the final rocket to reach orbit. SpaceX is developing a prototype that could refuel in flight, a complex process that would require two Starships equipped with docking adapters to meet in orbit to transfer propellant.
This ability is necessary for Starship to reach distant destinations like the Moon and Mars.
As SpaceX explained online, the primary purpose of the flight test was simply to test both new hardware “for the first time in a flight environment.”
Super-large booster lands off Texas’ Gulf Coast
Like previous designs, the fully integrated Starship spacecraft consists of both a 236-foot-tall lower booster known as the Super Heavy and a 171-foot-tall upper booster known simply as Starship.
SpaceX said on its website that both the superheavy booster and the upper stage, sometimes referred to simply as the “ship,” have undergone significant upgrades in preparation for launch.
The booster was powered by 33 of SpaceX’s Raptor-class engines and provided the first burst of thrust during liftoff before the stage separated minutes after liftoff.
As SpaceX once again pushed the capabilities of its Super Heavy booster, the company did not return to the launch site and land it, as was last accomplished in March 2025. Instead, the booster failed to reignite its engines during a procedure called a partial boost backburn, causing what SpaceX called a “hard splashdown” in the Gulf of Mexico, renamed the Gulf of America in the United States by executive order.
Upper stage flies halfway around the world and lands in the Indian Ocean
The upper stage made an even longer flight, using six Raptor engines to fly half way around the world, landing in the Indian Ocean and exploding to the cheers of SpaceX employees who had gathered to watch the flight.
Although it lost one of its engines during its ascent into suborbital space, it was still able to reach its planned orbit, SpaceX said.
In the process, Starship successfully deployed 20 simulated versions of SpaceX’s Starlink satellites and two modified satellites, the first of its kind to photograph Starship as it ascends into space.
During the landing phase, SpaceX intentionally tested the limits of the rocket’s capabilities as it worked towards an upper stage that could return to the launch site. SpaceX said Starship ultimately used its two Raptor engines to “perform a landing flip, landing burn, and splashdown.”
to loud cheers
See photos of Starship launched during the 12th test
What did NASA Administrator Elon Musk say about Starship Flight 12?
In a post to
NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman, a close ally of Musk, also congratulated Musk and his rocket company on a “great launch of the V3 Starship” in a post on X.
Isaacman added: “We’re one step closer to the moon…one step closer to Mars.”
SpaceX develops world’s largest rocket for Moon and Mars missions
SpaceX is developing its rockets as fully reusable transportation systems. This means that both the rocket and vehicle can return to the ground for additional missions.
SpaceX is competing with Blue Origin to develop a lunar lander to help NASA astronauts land on the moon under the U.S. space agency’s Artemis program. Musk also dreams of Starship being the first vehicle to transport humans to Mars, but in February SpaceX announced its intention to shift its focus first to building a lunar city.
Closer to home, Starship is designed to carry larger versions of the company’s Starlink internet satellites and other payloads into Earth orbit.
Eric Lagatta is a Space Connect reporter for the USA TODAY Network. Please contact elagatta@usatodayco.com.
