Overview
- SpaceX now targets Thursday, May 21, for Flight 12 from Starbase in South Texas, with a 5:30 p.m. CT launch window and a company webcast beginning about 45 minutes earlier.
- Flight 12 debuts the Version 3 Starship and a redesigned Super Heavy booster standing about 400 feet tall with new Raptor 3 engines and a rebuilt pad and ground systems.
- The test plan includes an in‑space engine restart, deployment of 20 mock Starlink satellites, and heat‑shield studies using one removed tile and several tiles painted white for onboard cameras.
- Recovery is conservative by design, with the booster aiming for a controlled splashdown in the Gulf of Mexico and the ship targeting splashdown in the Indian Ocean rather than a tower catch.
- The stakes extend beyond this flight as NASA tracks results to inform lunar lander reviews and future in‑orbit refueling demos after earlier flights exposed engine and heat‑shield weaknesses.