STARSHIP // PROGRAM + ORIGINAL COVERAGE
IGW films and photography, flight records, and the vehicles and places behind the Starship program.
Photograph · Groundtruth
Starship stacked on the launch mount at Starbase at night, the tower floodlit.
Photograph — Groundtruth
Scale model
A successful launch from Orbital Launch Pad 2. Ship 40 completed a successful soft splashdown in the Indian Ocean; Booster 20 was lost at splashdown.
MISSION TIMELINE
01 // 22:51 UTC
Orbital Launch Pad 2 at Starbase.
02 // SHIP 40
Successful soft splashdown in the Indian Ocean.
03 // BOOSTER 20
Lost at splashdown after the return sequence and landing-burn attempt.
SpaceX identifies Flight 12 as the first flight of Starship V3, Super Heavy V3, Raptor 3 and Starbase Pad 2. Starship reached its planned trajectory and splashed down in the Indian Ocean; Super Heavy hard-splashed after a partial boostback.
MISSION TIMELINE
01 // 22:30 UTC
Starbase Pad 2.
02 // SUPER HEAVY
Partial boostback burn; hard splashdown after the landing-burn attempt.
03 // STARSHIP
Planned trajectory achieved; 20 Starlink simulators and two modified Starlink satellites deployed.
04 // STARSHIP
Reentry, landing flip and landing burn completed before splashdown in the Indian Ocean.
SpaceX reports Super Heavy completed a tower catch. Starship then lost multiple engines and vehicle control during ascent; telemetry ended and the upper stage later broke apart.
MISSION TIMELINE
01 // 23:30 UTC
Starbase, Texas.
02 // SUPER HEAVY
Successful return-to-launch-site tower catch.
03 // ~T+5:30
Energetic event near a center sea-level Raptor, followed by multiple engine shutdowns and loss of vehicle control.
04 // ~T+9:30
Telemetry was lost; the upper stage was later observed reentering and breaking apart.
The grid fins of a Super Heavy booster, folded against the hull.
Photograph — Brandon M. Wynn
IGW FILM · 30 AUGUST 2026
Watch on the IGW channel