LAUNCH MISSION
Starship Flight 12
Twelfth Starship flight test and first flight of the Starship V3 and Super Heavy V3 vehicles, Raptor 3 engines, and Starbase Pad 2. Starship reached its planned trajectory, deployed 20 Starlink simulators and two modified Starlink satellites, reentered, and completed its landing burn and splashdown in the Indian Ocean. Super Heavy experienced a partial boostback burn and later a hard splashdown in the Gulf.
SCHEDULE
Launch date
May 22, 2026
Minute
LAUNCH SITE
Where the mission begins
Starbase Pad 2, Texas
United States — Texas
MISSION
Program and destination
Starship Flight Test Program
Suborbital test trajectory
Test Flight
RESULT
Outcome and recovery
Starship achieved its planned trajectory, deployed test payloads, reentered, and completed a landing flip, landing burn, and splashdown in the Indian Ocean. Super Heavy completed only a partial boostback burn and experienced a hard splashdown after attempting its landing burn.
Partial / Mixed
PROVENANCE
SpaceX — Starship's Twelfth Flight Test
August 30, 2026
May 21, 2026
Official
Official
No Mission Media
SpaceX’s Flight 12 mission page states that Starship lifted off May 22, 2026 at 5:30 p.m. CT from Starbase. It was the first flight of Starship V3, Super Heavy V3, Raptor 3 engines, and Pad 2. SpaceX reports one Super Heavy engine shutdown during ascent, a partial boostback burn, and a hard booster splashdown. Starship lost one vacuum Raptor during ascent but achieved its planned trajectory, deployed all 20 Starlink simulators plus two modified Starlink satellites, reentered, and completed a landing flip, landing burn, and splashdown in the Indian Ocean. The normalized mission status is Partial Failure to preserve the mixed booster/ship outcome without overriding SpaceX’s developmental-test framing.
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