SpaceX launches Starship V3 for the first time, but loses booster on return

SpaceX launched an upgraded third version of its Starship rocket for the first time, but the test launch didn’t go perfectly for Elon Musk’s spaceflight company.

The 407-foot-tall rocket, the most powerful in history, lifted off from SpaceX’s Starbase in Texas at 5:30 p.m. local time. After only a few minutes, the upper ship separated from the super heavy booster and continued into space.

The booster was to take off from Starship and return to Earth, where it would simulate a landing in the Gulf of Mexico. However, the booster’s engine did not properly reignite for sustained combustion to send it back to the launch site. The booster then fell into the water and likely exploded.

Meanwhile, Starship lost one of its six Raptor engines as it ascended into space. However, it successfully deployed two modified Starlink satellites intended to record images of the Starship’s exterior, as well as all 20 Starlink satellite simulators. About an hour after liftoff, Starship simulated landing in the Indian Ocean, but predictably rolled over and exploded.

Although it didn’t go as planned, this was an important test launch for SpaceX. This was the first real shakedown of the upgraded Starship V3 hardware, which has been in development for months. The company was also testing an entirely new launch pad at Starbase that it had been developing and building for years.

This test launch also marks a historic turning point for SpaceX as a company. The company’s IPO filing was made public this week, and SpaceX is expected to list on the Nasdaq in mid-June. The IPO will reportedly raise about $75 billion for SpaceX, which the company plans to use to fuel further development and large-scale AI ambitions, as well as pay down some of the debt associated with xAI and Musk’s social media company X (meaning this could be the last Starship test launch without stock market reaction).

SpaceX has spent years and billions of dollars developing Starship, which it considers critical to its mission to make life multi-planetary. The company plans to use Starship on NASA’s missions to the Moon and eventually Mars. But Starlink is the only profitable part of SpaceX’s business, so the big job that needs to be done in the short term is getting more advanced Starlink satellites into Earth orbit.

This was the first Starship flight since October 2025. SpaceX had planned to try to launch Starship V3 sooner, but one of the first upgraded boosters exploded during a test in November. SpaceX first attempted the launch on Thursday but was ultimately forced to postpone it after a hydraulic pin in the launch tower arm refused to retract, Musk said.

This new version of Starship is powered by SpaceX’s third-generation Raptor engine, which has more thrust and a much simpler design. The new booster is designed for faster takeoff and easier catch by launch towers.

This story has been updated to include information about Starship’s mock landing.