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What we covered here
• SpaceX scrubbed its attempt to launch the 12th test flight of its Starship megarocket Thursday evening, after last-minute issues triggered a series of holds.
• The mission, the Starship program’s first in months, will mark the much-anticipated debut of an upgraded version of the vehicle, called Version 3 or V3. SpaceX experienced several mishaps with the V2 Starship prototype last year.
• The company is hoping to hit a few milestones, including deploying simulator satellites, during the flight. But SpaceX has made it clear it’s not expecting the test to go perfectly.
• SpaceX is racing to get Starship ready to launch satellites and carry humans into deep space, in the hopes of fulfilling NASA’s plan to use the vehicle to land its astronauts on the moon by 2028.
What happened during Thursday's scrubbed launch attempt
The first attempt to get Starship V3 off the ground came in fits and starts. After battling some weather, clear skies rolled through the South Texas launch site in the nick of time, allowing SpaceX to target a liftoff time in the latter end of its 90-minute launch window.
But then, as the countdown clock reached under the minute-mark, a series of automated holds kept tripping things up.
SpaceX Dan Huot ticked through a few of the issues that triggered holds: a problem with a propellant line attached to the Starship spacecraft, a sensor on the rocket tower, and an apparent issue with the water deluge system.
It was not immediately clear which — or all, or none — of those issues ultimately forced the company to stand down. What we do know is that SpaceX can make another attempt tomorrow if engineers sort through these last-minute missteps before then. The company may also need to replenish the fuel and oxidizer in the massive tanks surrounding the launchpad to be ready for another go.
“New rocket, new pad — We’re learning a lot about these systems as we execute them for the first time, and we’re not able to basically troubleshoot all of these issues in those final seconds to get to launch,” Huot said, “but that essentially makes this a wet dress rehearsal.”
SpaceX waves off tonight's launch attempt
After a wild round of back-and-forth and stops-and-starts with the countdown clock, SpaceX’s Dan Huot confirmed that engineers were not able to work through several last-minute red flags to allow for liftoff today.
“We are expecting to be able to make another flight attempt tomorrow, but obviously stay tuned to our social media,” Huot added.
Flight director says "go" for launch — but holds again
SpaceX appears to be working out some kinks in the countdown procedure. The company held the countdown before cycling through several holds and lifts.
At one point, the flight director even vocalized “go” for launch, but the countdown halted again. SpaceX’s Dan Huot said on the webcast that engineers are “managing some pressures in the Ship quick disconnect.” That refers to one of the lines used to load the Starship spacecraft with fuel that’s meant to rapidly detach at liftoff.
After another couple rounds of stop-and-go with the countdown clock, Huot noted teams were also looking at a sensor that was tripped on the launch pad’s water deluge system, which is used to contain the flames of the rocket engines and manage acoustics, as well as one on the launch tower.
Rapper Nicki Minaj makes surprise webcast appearance
To the apparent surprise of SpaceX’s webcast hosts in Starbase, Texas, rapper Nicki Minaj showed up on set. After she was handed a mic, the musician said she was attending her first launch and gave a shout-out to SpaceX CEO Elon Musk.
“Thank you for everything that you’re doing for humanity,” Minaj said.
Musk and Minaj share a similar political background, having both become vocal supporters of President Donald Trump.
As SpaceX heads for an IPO, what are the stakes?
CNN asked two space investment insiders — Phil Scully, general partner with Balerion Space Ventures, and Andrew Chanin, CEO of the investment firm ProcureAM — for thoughts on this test flight as SpaceX rapidly approaches its projected IPO date. Here are some of their responses, which have been edited for length:
Do you think a suboptimal performance on this test flight will affect perceptions of the IPO?
Chanin: There are likely more eyes on this test launch than ever before for this company. A risky call to do this highly anticipated launch so close to the IPO — but fortune favors the bold.
Scully: Of course, the optics matter. But Starship is still just one piece of a very large pie. And people who are interested in backing SpaceX know that it’s built its reputation on rapid iteration and learning through testing.
How do you think the pressure to exhibit success with Starship might change after the IPO?
Chanin: A publicly listed company can potentially exhibit more volatility than a private company on both its success and failures.
Scully: Starship is undoubtedly transformational for the entire industry. Of course, there are challenges, but SpaceX has proven that they can do the impossible. We believe stakeholders, even the world, see that. That willingness to tolerate setbacks in pursuit of something far bigger, such as making the impossible possible, is what enables truly extraordinary breakthroughs.
These are the key moments to watch for
It’s launch day in South Texas after a seven-month hiatus for SpaceX’s Starship test flight program. Now, the company is continuing its efforts to get the largest, most powerful launch vehicle ever built to work as intended.
It’s anyone’s guess how Starship V3 will perform today.
Last time SpaceX debuted a new version of Starship, it took several attempts to get the vehicle to survive through most of its flight path, and a couple of those missions ended prematurely in explosive failures over or near populated islands — ordeals that angered residents in some Caribbean locations. (No people were harmed but there was a report of property damage and a significant amount of debris to clean up.)
As you follow along during today’s mission, here are some key moments to keep an eye out for:
- T-30 seconds: The flight director gives a final “go” for launch.
- T-3 seconds: The Super Heavy rocket booster’s 33 Raptor engines will get the command fire on to vault the 400-foot-tall rocket system off the launchpad.
- Liftoff
- T+45 seconds: The rocket will experience “Max Q” — or the moment of maximum stress on the vehicle as it gains speed while still trudging through Earth’s thick atmosphere.
- T+2:22: Super Heavy will shut down its 33 Raptor engines. Moments later, the rocket booster will break away from the upper Starship spacecraft, or ship, which will then fire its own six engines and continue on the mission.
- T+2:30: Super Heavy will relight its engines for a one-minute burn, attempting to control and steer itself as it falls back to Earth.
- T+6:34: Super Heavy fires its engines again for a landing burn. Though it won’t attempt to land back at the launch tower, it will do some maneuvering in an attempt to make a controlled touchdown in the Gulf.
- T+8:11: The ship will cease firing its six engines and begin coasting.
- T+17:37: Starship will begin deploying a set of 22 mockup satellites as part of a tech demo.
- T+38:37: Another tech demo will commence as Starship relights one of its engines.
- T+47:47: One of the most high-stakes portions of the flight begins as Starship begins to reenter Earth’s thick atmosphere. Earlier iterations of the vehicle occasionally lost control or suffered damage during this stretch of prior test flights.
- T+1:05:06: Starship relights its engines again and rapidly executes a flip maneuver to reorient the spacecraft upright for a simulated landing, which will take place over the ocean.
Document disclosure reveals "public panic" after 2025 Starship explosion
SpaceX hit a major setback when a Starship spacecraft exploded during a ground test in June 2025. The mishap spurred an emergency response from nearby authorities in Brownsville, Texas.
An incident report, obtained by CNN via a freedom of information act request, described a tense scene.
Local officials did not respond to a request for comment about how emergency response preparedness may have changed since the incident.
That ordeal was a “tough one,” Jenna Lowe, senior manager of Starship operations, said in a video posted to SpaceX’s website last month. “It not only took out the rocket, but it took out a lot of the test site infrastructure.”
SpaceX experienced yet another explosive setback during ground testing in November, when the company was aiming to conduct a fueling test of a Starship V3 rocket. The vehicle was destroyed, but “the test site incurred very little damage and of course nobody was hurt in the incident,” according to Joe Petrzelka, SpaceX’s vice president of booster engineering, in a recent Starship promotional video.
Local authorities did not respond to a request for comment about that incident.
SpaceX had dramatic highs and lows with prior Starship versions
SpaceX notched some crucial early successes with Starship’s design during uncrewed, suborbital test flights. The company was first able to recover a Super Heavy booster, for example, in October 2024 — landing the rocket snugly in the metal arms of SpaceX’s “Mechazilla” launch tower in Starbase, Texas.
But SpaceX experienced several mishaps with Version 2 of Starship, which first took flight in January 2025.
During two separate test flights in January and March, the vehicle exploded near populated areas east of Florida, creating debris that hit roadways in Turks and Caicos and washed up onto Bahamian islands.
Starship will not fly over those territories on Wednesday, per SpaceX’s altered Starship flight plan.
The Federal Aviation Administration, which licenses commercial rocket launches and evaluates risks, mapped out some of the Flight 12 path in an advisory. The new path shows Starship flying south of Cuba, Haiti, and the Dominican Republic, rather than farther north over Turks and Caicos as previous flights have traveled.
SpaceX’s run with Starship V2 concluded with a few clean test runs, culminating with Flight 11 in October.
Launch teams have given the "go" for loading propellant
SpaceX said on social media platform X that launch controllers have given the go-ahead to start loading the Starship spacecraft and Super Heavy booster up with propellant.
The company is also beginning its webcast for tonight’s launch attempt here.
OSHA is investigating a recent Starbase death
Today’s mission comes as federal investigators at the Occupational Safety and Health Administration said they are looking into the May 15 death of a SpaceX contractor, who reportedly fell 8 feet from scaffolding.
Further details about the incident have not been released, and SpaceX did not respond to a request for comment about the matter. The company does not typically correspond with reporters.
An OSHA spokesperson said the administration has six months to investigate the incident and will release more information upon its conclusion.
SpaceX's "Mechazilla" launchpad has upgrades, too
Today’s test flight will also mark a first for SpaceX’s upgraded infrastructure in Starbase, Texas — the company-run town where Starship is built and launched.
Starship V3 will take off from a brand-new launchpad, called Pad 2, with several design changes, including:
- Larger propellant tanks with more pumps to enable faster fuel and oxidizer loading
- Shorter “chopstick” arms for catching the Super Heavy booster (SpaceX won’t attempt to recapture Super Heavy today, but this change is meant to make the arms more nimble for future recovery attempts.)
- A new flame diverter to direct the engine’s fire into two directions, with the aim of reducing the amount of wear on the launchpad after each flight
- Moving an assortment of “vent valves, isolation valves, and filters for booster fluid” into “a hardened bunker” beside the launch tower, to bring that hardware closer to the rocket while still keeping the fuel and oxidizer — which are explosive when mixed — separate from each other
SpaceX pushes back launch time (again)
SpaceX just took to social media platform X to announce another 30-minute delay of Starship’s takeoff time. Teams are now targeting 7:30 p.m. ET (6:30 p.m. local time.)
Additional delays could start cutting it close. SpaceX’s 90-minute launch window will close at 8 p.m. ET.
SpaceX is debuting a lighter, more powerful engine
The Raptor engine is the beating heart of this gargantuan rocket and spacecraft system. Thirty-three of the engines line the bottom of the Super Heavy booster, and six more power the upper Starship spacecraft.
And just like the overall Starship vehicle, the Raptors themselves are debuting a massive overhaul.
Enter: the Raptor 3.
From a purely visual perspective, the engines appear more elegant with fewer intricate parts. SpaceX also explained that the engines do not require individual shrouds for heat protection, which saves quite a bit of weight — boosting the engines’ efficiency.
Each Super Heavy engine also boasts an additional 50,000 pounds of force at liftoff, according to the company.
But, CEO Elon Musk warned last year that there may be some growing pains in the early stages of flying these machines: “It’ll probably take a few kicks at the can — but it will be a massive increase in payload capability.”
SpaceX moves target launch time to 7 pm ET
In a brief social media post, SpaceX said it’s now targeting 6 p.m. local time (7 p.m. ET) for liftoff this evening.
It’s not clear why SpaceX is holding off on the first half hour of its 90-minute launch window, which opens at 6:30 p.m. ET — but weather has been a persistent concern. South Texas has been hit with storms, and clouds have lingered near the launch site, as SpaceX spokesperson Dan Huot noted on social media.
These mesh-like “fins” got an upgrade. Here’s why
The alterations debuting with Starship V3 include changes to the vehicle’s “gridfins” — the large, mesh-like pieces of metal affixed to the top of the Super Heavy booster.
Gridfins are hardware that can pivot and tilt, helping to keep the rocket booster stable as it falls back to Earth. They’re crucial to helping the vehicle remain stable so it can be recovered, refurbished and flown again.
Super Heavy will be discarded in the ocean on this test flight, but SpaceX still hopes to simulate a ground landing as closely as possible to prepare for future recovery attempts.
While Versions 1 and 2 of Starship each had four gridfins, Version 3 has just three, “with each fin now 50% larger and significantly stronger,” according to SpaceX’s website.
These fins include “a new catch point” — or portion that will lock on to SpaceX’s launch and recovery tower when the booster descends back toward terra firma after future flights. And the gridfins sit lower on the Super Heavy than they did previously, aiming to “reduce heat exposure from Starship’s engines during hot-staging,” the website notes.
Hot-staging is the moment when the upper Starship spacecraft fires its engines to break away from Super Heavy, a moment that occurs about seven minutes into flight.
SpaceX first started using gridfins on its Falcon 9 rocket, the workhorse launch vehicle design that’s flown more than 630 missions since 2010.
Elon Musk hopes the third version is the charm for Starship
SpaceX has teased the debut of Starship Version 3 since last year, even before the company retired the Version 2 prototype that flew five test missions over the course of 2025, with mixed success.
And the company’s CEO, Elon Musk, has already hailed Version 3 as a turning point.
And the new generation of Starship and Super Heavy — which boasts new engine designs and reworked inner mechanisms — should be “rapidly reusable” and be able to carry out orbital refilling, Musk said.
If Musk’s promises are true, it’s possible that Starship Version 3 will demonstrate real progress toward operational missions and give space industry stakeholders insight into how a moon mission might actually play out.
Check out all the upgrades SpaceX is debuting today
Today’s Starship is not like the others. This vehicle is the first of a series of prototypes SpaceX is calling Version 3 — and it bears a host of alterations compared with its Version 1 and 2 predecessors.
These are the changes debuting with V3:
- Engines: A design overhaul for the Raptor engines that power both the Super Heavy rocket booster and Starship spacecraft, or “ship”
- Fins: Alterations to the “gridfins” that help guide the Super Heavy booster as it heads for landing
- Hot-staging: Reworked hardware at the point where Super Heavy and Starship meet, aiming to better protect the vehicles as they split apart mid-flight
- Fuel line: A component called the “fuel transfer tube” — which funnels liquid methane to Super Heavy’s Raptor engines — has a substantial redesign. It’s meant to enable “all 33 engines to start up simultaneously and faster.”
- Thermal protection: SpaceX hashed out a new means of controlling the temperatures in the bottom part of the Super Heavy booster, opting to remove large “shrouds” that once covered the Raptor engines and replace them with shielding between the engines and around their supporting hardware.
- Propulsion system: The upper Starship spacecraft, or “ship,” has a completely reimagined propulsion system, including larger propellant tanks.
- Satellite dispenser: The mechanism used to eject satellites into orbit has been updated with “new actuators and inverters, increasing deployment speed for each satellite.”
- Docking mechanism: The ship is now outfitted with “docking drogues” or cone-shaped funnels that would be used to help dock two vehicles together while in orbit. SpaceX intends to use such docking maneuvers to transfer propellant.
Here's what to expect during today's test flight
SpaceX has high hopes for the upgraded version of Starship debuting today, called Version 3 or V3. CEO Elon Musk has said “it takes three major iterations of any new technology to have it really work well” — and SpaceX could use some of that third-time charm.
The company is racing to get Starship ready to launch satellites and carry humans into deep space, including fulfilling NASA’s plan to use the vehicle to land its astronauts on the moon amid a space race with China.
Starship V3 will not repeat the flight paths used during V2 testing last year, which traced a route from the tip of South Texas to the Indian Ocean.
SpaceX is making clear that it’s not expecting the first run of Starship V3 to go perfectly.
But the company did lay out a few milestones it really hopes to hit:
- Execute a safe launch and ascent of the Super Heavy rocket booster with the Starship spacecraft atop
- Successfully separate Starship from Super Heavy after the latter finishes burning its engines
- Guide the Super Heavy booster back to a controlled landing in the Gulf
- Deploy 22 simulator satellites, including two that will collect data about how the Starship spacecraft’s heat shield is performing
- Relight one of Starship’s Raptor rocket engines during the coasting phase of the flight
- Put the Starship spacecraft through its paces with a series of maneuvers designed to stress test the vehicle, aiming to collect data about how the vehicle may one day be safely returned to the launch tower so it can be rapidly flown again
SpaceX will not attempt to land the Super Heavy rocket booster back between the extended metal arms of the Mechazilla launch tower, as the company has done during previous test flights.
