SpaceX says Starship flight 12 is now targeted for Tuesday, May 19 from South Texas, with the launch window opening at 6:30 p.m. ET. The planned test follows a seven-month gap and comes as the company readies a new-and-improved Version 3 design that could help
SpaceX is pointing its calendar at Tuesday. May 19—an all-important date for a rocket that has been stuck waiting in the wings. The company says the launch window for Starship, the world’s largest rocket, is set to open at 6:30 p.m. ET from SpaceX’s Starbase in Texas near the U.S.-Mexico border. sending the enormous vehicle on what would be its 12th flight test.
The stakes are hard to miss. Starship has not flown in 2026. and the last time it left the ground was more than seven months ago on its 11th flight test. according to the company’s own flight history. SpaceX says delays are part of the reason—the next attempt will come after additional preparation for a fresh design that may be the version that finally reaches orbit.
A delayed launch would not end the pursuit of a near-term window. A planning advisory from the Federal Aviation Administration, which licenses commercial rocket launches, lists May 20 as another opportunity if Tuesday’s attempt is postponed.
SpaceX is targeting flight 12 as a turning point in the rocket’s development. The company frames the upcoming test not just as another step. but as the first since October 2025 and the beginning of a longer stretch of work toward capabilities it says are required for missions involving humans deep into space.
Flight 12 would also mark the longest drought for Starship since SpaceX debuted the rocket in April 2023—a pause that has mattered to the teams preparing for the next major engineering leap.
If all goes to plan. the next Starship prototype—known as Version 3 (V3)—could be the model that reaches orbit and demonstrates the ability to refuel its upper stage midflight. That refueling capability hinges on a complex. two-vehicle choreography: two Starships equipped with docking adapters meeting in orbit to transfer hundreds of tons of super-cooled propellant.
The promise of that maneuver is closely tied to what SpaceX wants Starship to become: a fully reusable transportation system that can carry huge satellites and other payloads to space, with both the rocket and spacecraft returning to the ground for additional missions.
Starship’s design is also central to why NASA is watching. As the space agency waits for SpaceX to produce a lunar lander for its upcoming Artemis moon missions, the performance of an upgraded Starship prototype could shape what comes next for the broader timeline of U.S. return-to-the-Moon plans.
Starship itself is composed of two major parts. The lower-stage booster, called Super Heavy, provides the initial burst of thrust at liftoff, while the upper stage—also named Starship—carries the crew and cargo after the stages separate. The booster is powered by 33 SpaceX Raptor-class engines.
When fully stacked. Starship stands at more than 400 feet tall. a scale that has helped it earn its position as the largest and most powerful launch vehicle in the world. In the years ahead. SpaceX has said the system will also compete with Blue Origin as both companies pursue a lunar lander for Artemis.
There is also a bigger vision in the background. Elon Musk has talked about Starship transporting the first humans to Mars, and in February he announced SpaceX’s intentions of shifting its focus to building a lunar city first.
What SpaceX is trying to do on flight 12 sits atop a history of hard lessons. Since its debut in April 2023 ended in a premature explosion, Starship has encountered a series of anomalies and failures, including fiery mishaps both on the test stand and mid-flight.
Even with setbacks, there have been bright points. Across 11 flight tests to date. SpaceX has twice had Starship deploy mock Starlink internet satellites. twice reused a Super Heavy booster. and three times caught a returning booster at the launch site using giant mechanical arms known as “chopsticks.” The upper stage has also managed to fly to a suborbital height—traveling halfway around the world and landing in the Indian Ocean.
The company’s 2025 record also shows how uneven the path can be. SpaceX conducted five Starship flight tests in 2025. and the first three ended in disaster when the vehicle met a fiery demise before completing many key objectives. Still. SpaceX ended 2025 on a high note. with its final two Starship launches of the year in August and October considered inarguable successes.
That mix—major failures and major demonstrations—has shaped how the company approaches each new attempt. Flight 12 is now positioned as another test of whether SpaceX can turn preparation and redesign into the kind of performance that would bring Starship closer to orbit and. potentially. the midflight refueling capability SpaceX says will matter for its next human-focused ambitions.
SpaceX Starship flight 12 May 19 launch Starbase Texas FAA planning advisory Version 3 V3 midflight refueling Artemis NASA lunar lander Super Heavy Raptor engines chopsticks Super Heavy booster reuse