Starship is a fully reusable, two-stage launch vehicle developed by SpaceX. Standing 124.4 meters tall in its current Version 3 form, it is the largest and most powerful rocket ever flown, with roughly twice the liftoff thrust of the Saturn V.[1][2] SpaceX intends it to carry more than 100 tonnes to low Earth orbit while both stages fly back for reuse, a combination no rocket has achieved.
The vehicle is central to nearly everything SpaceX plans next: launching the heavier generation of Starlink satellites, landing NASA astronauts on the Moon for the Artemis program, and eventually carrying cargo and people to Mars. Twelve integrated test flights have flown from Starbase, Texas since April 2023, including the first flight of the upgraded Version 3 design on May 22, 2026.[2][3]
Design
Starship consists of two stainless steel stages. The Super Heavy booster provides the first roughly three minutes of flight with 33 Raptor engines, then returns to the launch site, where the launch tower's mechanical arms can catch it in mid-air. The Starship upper stage (also called the ship) continues to orbit, protected during reentry by thousands of ceramic heat shield tiles on its windward side. It lands propulsively after a controlled "belly flop" descent that uses four flaps for aerodynamic control.[1]
Both stages burn liquid methane and liquid oxygen in Raptor engines, a full-flow staged combustion design that SpaceX chose partly because methane can in principle be manufactured on Mars from atmospheric carbon dioxide and subsurface ice. Stainless steel, unusual for modern rockets, was selected for its low cost, its strength at cryogenic temperatures, and its high melting point.[1]
Development history
SpaceX began serious work on the vehicle in the late 2010s at Boca Chica, Texas, under names that shifted from Interplanetary Transport System to BFR to Starship. Early prototypes flew short "hops": the stubby Starhopper in 2019, then full-height upper stages in 2020 and 2021. Several exploded during landing attempts before SN15 touched down cleanly in May 2021.[2]
The program then paused flights for two years while SpaceX built the orbital launch pad, the Super Heavy booster, and dozens of Raptor engines. Integrated testing began in April 2023 with a philosophy the company describes as iterative: fly hardware early, accept failures, and fix designs between flights.
Flight test program
| Flight | Date | Outcome |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | April 20, 2023 | Cleared the pad; vehicle lost about 4 minutes in |
| 2 | November 2023 | Hot-staging worked; both stages lost |
| 3 | March 2024 | Reached space; lost during reentry |
| 4 | June 6, 2024 | First booster soft splashdown and ship reentry survival |
| 5 | October 13, 2024 | First mid-air catch of the booster by the tower |
| 6 | November 2024 | Raptor relight in space demonstrated |
| 7-9 | January-May 2025 | Boosters performed (including first reuse); V2 ships lost |
| 10 | August 26, 2025 | Full test profile: payload deploy demo and precise splashdowns |
| 11 | October 2025 | Repeat success; final flight of the V2 design |
| 12 | May 22, 2026 | Version 3 debut; ship completed profile, booster lost at sea |
The pattern through 2025 was consistent: booster recovery matured quickly, with three successful tower catches and the first booster reflight, while the upgraded V2 ship struggled before two clean flights closed out the design.[2]
Version 3
Flight 12, launched on May 22, 2026 from Starbase's new Pad 2, introduced the vehicle's biggest redesign yet. Version 3 stretches the stack to 124.4 meters, adds propellant capacity, and debuts the Raptor 3 engine, a simplified and more powerful variant that sheds most of the external plumbing of earlier Raptors. The flight carried modified Starlink satellites designed to image the vehicle in space. The ship lost one vacuum engine during ascent but completed its suborbital profile; the booster failed its boostback burn and crashed offshore rather than achieving a controlled splashdown. SpaceX classified the test as a success and moved the next ship into engine testing within weeks.[3][4]
Objectives ahead of the program include the first full orbital flights, ship recovery by tower catch, rapid booster reflight, and an in-space propellant transfer demonstration, the technology on which Starship's deep-space missions depend.[4]
Starbase
Starship is built and launched from Starbase, a company town at the southern tip of Texas that incorporated as a city in May 2025. The site includes two orbital launch pads, the Starfactory production building, and the Gigabay high-bay under construction for stacking future vehicles. Federal regulators have approved up to 25 launches per year from the site, and SpaceX is building additional Starship pads at Cape Canaveral, Florida for higher flight rates.[2][4]
Role in Artemis
NASA selected a lunar-lander version of the ship as the Human Landing System for the Artemis program in 2021. Under the plan announced in June 2026, the crewed Artemis III mission in 2027 will rendezvous and dock in Earth orbit with commercial lander test vehicles, including a Starship pathfinder, before Artemis IV attempts the first crewed landing at the lunar south pole in 2028 using the Starship HLS.[5] The lander variant requires multiple tanker flights to refuel in orbit before heading to the Moon, which is why propellant transfer sits so high on the test program's priority list.
Starlink, Mars, and beyond
The heavier V3 generation of Starlink satellites is designed to launch only on Starship, making the rocket the key to scaling SpaceX's own network.[4] Beyond Earth orbit, the company's stated purpose for the vehicle is settling Mars. Elon Musk has repeatedly discussed sending uncrewed Starships toward Mars when transfer windows and vehicle readiness align; as of mid-2026 no firm Mars mission is scheduled, and the program remains focused on orbital flight, reuse, and refueling milestones.
References
- Starship - SpaceX.
- List of Starship launches - Wikipedia.
- SpaceX launches more powerful Super Heavy-Starship rocket on test flight - CBS News.
- What's next for SpaceX's Starship V3 megarocket after its historic debut flight? - Space.com.
- NASA Marches Toward Artemis III Mission in 2027, Names Crew Members - NASA.
