May 15, 2026, 1:31 p.m. ET
- SpaceX is preparing for the 12th launch of its Starship rocket, scheduled for May 19, 2026 from Starbase, Texas.
- This mission will debut Version 3 of Starship, the largest and most powerful iteration built by the company.
- SpaceX is developing Starship to transport humans to the moon for NASA’s Artemis program and eventually to Mars.
- SpaceX continues to prepare to launch Starship from both the Kennedy Space Center and the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.
SpaceX is on the cusp of launching its gargantuan Starship rocket for the first time in 2026.
The upcoming flight test, scheduled for May 19, would mark the 12th overall launch of the world’s largest rocket since April 2023 and the first since October 2025.
For SpaceX – the commercial spaceflight company that billionaire Elon Musk founded in 2002 – much is riding on the mission.
For one, the new-and-improved Starship that is stacked and ready on the launch pad at the company’s headquarters in South Texas is the largest rocket SpaceX has ever built. And for another, the impending liftoff comes as SpaceX races to have a lunar lander configuration of Starship ready for astronaut moon landings under NASA’s Artemis campaign.
Here’s everything to know about the next Starship launch, which SpaceX refers to as flight 12.
When is the Starship launch date?
SpaceX is working toward a Tuesday, May 19 launch of its Starship rocket, the company announced. The launch window is due to open at 6:30 p.m. ET, with the massive rocket getting off the ground from SpaceX’s Starbase company town and headquarters in Texas near the U.S.-Mexico border.
SpaceX to debut Version 3 of Starship. What is it?
The next Starship to launch will be the largest and most powerful version that SpaceX has ever built.
Both the Super Heavy booster and the upper stage, sometimes simply referred to as “Ship,” underwent significant upgrades in preparation for launch, SpaceX said in a lengthy post on its website.
If all goes to plan, Version 3 of Starship could be the model to finally reach orbit and also refuel its upper stage midflight during an orbital fuel transfer process with another Starship vehicle. The capability is necessary for Starship to reach the moon and transport humans deeper into space.
What is Starship? How tall is megarocket?
Standing at approximately 407 feet tall when fully stacked, the third-generation rocket is about 4 feet taller than its predecessor and more powerful than any iteration of the rocket that has launched to date.
Similar to previous designs, the fully integrated spacecraft is composed of both a 236-feet-tall lower-stage booster known as Super Heavy, as well as a 171-feet-tall upper stage simply called Starship. Powered by 33 of SpaceX’s Raptor-class engines, the booster provides the initial burst of thrust at liftoff, while the vehicle is where the crew and cargo would ride in orbit after the stages separate.
What is SpaceX planning for flight 12?
The main objective of the flight test, as SpaceX explained online, is simply to test both new pieces of hardware “in the flight environment for the first time.”
Once again, SpaceX plans to push the performance of the Super Heavy booster and, for that reason, will not attempt to return and land it back at the launch site – as was last accomplished in March 2025. Instead, the booster is due to land in the Gulf of Mexico, renamed in the U.S. under executive order as the Gulf of America.
The upper stage, meanwhile, will attempt to deploy 22 mock versions of SpaceX’s Starlink satellites as the company intends to intentionally test the limits of its capabilities. SpaceX is still working toward having an upper stage capable of returning to the launch site.
Starship to launch from upgraded launch pad at Starbase
For the upcoming mission, Starship will get off the ground from a completely new launch pad at Starbase.
The launch pad, called Pad 2, has been outfitted with an upgraded “propellant farm” that has increased storage capacity and more pumps, “enabling much faster vehicle filling for launch,” the company said. What’s more, the mechanical arms on the launch tower tasked with catching a returning booster – nicknamed “chopsticks” – are now shorter to allow them to move more quickly to track and secure Super Heavy as it descends.
When could Starship launch in Florida?
Florida’s first landmark Starship launch from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center could also take flight in 2026 in late summer or early fall, according to the U.S. Space Force.
Plans to get the rocket off the ground from the Sunshine State come as SpaceX continues to ready longterm launch and landing operations at not only Kennedy Space Center’s Launch Complex 39A, but Launch Complex 37 at the neighboring Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.
What will Starship do? SpaceX eyes human missions to moon, Mars
In the years ahead, SpaceX could use Starship to transport humans to the moon and to Mars.
SpaceX is competing with Blue Origin to develop a lunar lander to help NASA astronauts land on the moon under the U.S. space agency’s Artemis program. Musk also has dreams of Starship being the vehicle that transports the first humans to Mars – though in February he announced SpaceX’s intentions of shifting its focus to building a lunar city first.
SpaceX is developing the rocket to be a fully reusable transportation system – meaning both the rocket and vehicle can return to the ground for additional missions – that can also carry larger versions of the company’s Starlink internet satellites and other payloads to space.
See photos of SpaceX’s Starship megarocket
What happened on previous Starship flight tests?
The massive rocket has encountered a number of anomalies and failures since its debut in April 2023 ended in a premature explosion, including fiery mishaps both on the test stand and mid-flight.
But throughout the course of 11 flight tests to date, SpaceX has twice seen Starship deploy mock Starlink internet satellites, twice reused a Super Heavy booster and three times has caught a returning booster back at the launch site with giant mechanical arms known as “chopsticks.” The upper stage, meanwhile, has managed to consistently fly at a suborbital height, traveling halfway around the world while landing in the Indian Ocean.
Eric Lagatta is the Space Connect reporter for the USA TODAY Network. Reach him at elagatta@usatodayco.com. Subscribe to the free Florida TODAY newsletter.
