SpaceX launches upgraded Starship V3 to space but loses booster over the Gulf of Mexico
SpaceX on Friday completed the first launch of its upgraded Starship V3 rocket in a closely watched test flight from its Starbase site in South Texas, marking a major step for the company’s most ambitious launch vehicle. The massive two-stage rocket lifted off after a previous attempt had been scrubbed the day before because of late-countdown technical problems, according to SpaceX’s live coverage and reporting from Bloomberg and Spaceflight Now.
The mission was notable not just because it was the debut of the newest version of Starship, but because SpaceX is relying on the vehicle to support Elon Musk’s long-term plans for human spaceflight, large-scale satellite deployment and future orbital infrastructure. Bloomberg reported that the rocket reached space and deployed a batch of dummy Starlink satellites, a key demonstration that the upgraded design can carry out the kind of payload operations SpaceX wants to perform more regularly.
The flight was not entirely clean. While the Starship upper stage was reported to have performed well enough to complete the mission goals, Bloomberg said the booster lost control on the return and broke apart over the Gulf of Mexico. TechCrunch likewise described the launch as mostly successful, noting that SpaceX “lost” the booster on the way back. Even so, the company appeared to count the test as an important win for a vehicle that had faced major scrutiny in earlier development flights.
The launch followed a difficult start to the week. SpaceX had attempted to send the rocket up on Thursday, May 21, but scrubbed the mission after problems emerged during the final minute of the countdown. Spaceflight Now reported that the company stood down after multiple issues and was forced to troubleshoot before trying again the next day. That second attempt went ahead on Friday evening from Starbase, where SpaceX has been rapidly expanding its launch operations.
The result matters because Starship is central to SpaceX’s future plans, including larger payload launches, a more powerful version of its satellite network and eventual deep-space missions. The V3 version is meant to represent a more capable iteration of the system, and a successful debut gives SpaceX another data point as it works through the engineering challenges of building a fully reusable heavy-lift rocket. What happens next will likely depend on how SpaceX assesses the booster loss, the performance of the upper stage and the lessons it takes from the first flight of the new model.