SpaceX is preparing to launch the 12th uncrewed test flight of its Starship rocket as soon as Thursday, marking the debut of the upgraded Starship V3 — the largest and most powerful version of the vehicle yet — ahead of a planned IPO that could be the biggest in history.
A 90-minute launch window beginning at 6:30 p.m. EDT Thursday has been set for liftoff from SpaceX's Starbase site in South Texas, Space.com reports. Designated Flight 12, the mission will be the inaugural Starship test of the year — with no flight having taken place since last October.
SpaceX said it will not attempt to recover either portion of the vehicle from this launch. Roughly seven minutes into the flight, the Super Heavy booster will execute a descent and hit the water in the Gulf of Mexico; the upper stage will follow with its own ocean entry in the Indian Ocean around an hour after liftoff. Prior to each water impact, the booster and upper stage are each scheduled to fire their engines in a braking maneuver. The payload manifest includes 20 Starlink stand-ins alongside a pair of satellites that have been outfitted with cameras to image the heat shield as the vehicle descends through the atmosphere, SpaceX said.
The V3 incorporates a redesigned propulsion system, new avionics, and features intended to support future long-duration flights, including docking ports and hardware for ship-to-ship propellant transfer, according to SpaceX. The Super Heavy booster has been updated with larger grid fins, a redesigned fuel transfer system, and a dual quick-disconnect setup for loading propellant. SpaceX said the new version is capable of delivering more than 100 metric tons to low-Earth orbit in a fully reusable configuration.
That payload claim carries particular weight ahead of SpaceX's IPO. SpaceX previously acknowledged, as Bloomberg reported, that the Starship versions flown to date topped out at roughly 35 metric tons of payload to low-Earth orbit, a figure that falls below what the Falcon Heavy can haul. On the All-In podcast last September, Musk described V3 as a "gigantic upgrade" and predicted it would be capable of placing more than 100 tons into orbit while remaining fully reusable.
The upcoming test represents "the single most important pre-IPO catalyst remaining on SpaceX's calendar" for an offering "leaning so heavily into narrative and symbolism," PitchBook senior research analyst Franco Granda told Reuters.
SpaceX is targeting June 12 for its Nasdaq $NDAQ debut under the ticker SPCX, with a planned capital raise of up to $75 billion — which would surpass Saudi Aramco's $29 billion debut in 2019 as the largest IPO on record. The company is seeking a valuation of up to $1.75 trillion.
Nearly every major growth initiative in SpaceX's business case depends on Starship performing as promised: the vehicle is pegged to expand Starlink capacity, anchor a prospective network of AI-oriented data center satellites in orbit, and function as the lunar lander for NASA's Artemis 4 mission in 2028. SpaceX has secured upward of $4 billion in NASA agreements tied to putting astronauts on the lunar surface. Musk has also said he expects Starship to make its first uncrewed voyage to Mars at the end of 2026.
A successful flight would help SpaceX show investors that, after many explosions and delays, the vehicle is close to being ready for regular use. Bloomberg noted that the path to Flight 12 began with a setback when a V3 booster was destroyed during ground testing last November. SpaceX has often said that failures during testing are a normal part of development and provide valuable engineering lessons for future versions.