SpaceX Starship Flight 12 launch updates: 1st Starship V3 stacked ahead of May 21 liftoff

Refresh 2026-05-20T12:08:15.587Z Starship stacked ahead of launch SpaceX raises Ship 39 onto its Super Heavy booster ahead of the Flight 12 test launch and debut of Starship V3. (Image credit: SpaceX) Starship is back at the pad. SpaceX rolled Super Heavy (Booster 19) and its Starship upper stage (Ship 39) back to pad 2 at the company's Starbase facility yesterday, stacking the pair ahead of tomorrow's test launch. Today (May 20), SpaceX will perform a wet dress rehearsal (WDR) on the vehicle, simulating mission countdown procedures and fully fueling the rocket, but without an engine ignition. If all goes according to plan, today's WDR will be the last major test of Starship before tomorrow's liftoff, currently scheduled during a 1.5-hour launch window that opens at 6:30 p.m. EDT (2230 GMT) . It will be the debut launch for the Starship Version 3 (V3) , which features several upgrades compared to previous designs, and is meant to be a step toward qualifying the vehicle as the lunar lander for NASA's Artemis program and operational missions to launch SpaceX's Starlink satellites and future orbital data center vehicles. 2026-05-19T06:03:00.677Z SpaceX Starship Flight 12 will now launch on May 21 The 12th test flight of SpaceX's Starship megarocket has slipped yet again, to Thursday evening (May 21). That's the second delay in the past two days; SpaceX had originally targeted Tuesday (May 19) for the launch but pushed it to Wednesday (May 20). …