SpaceX targets May 19 Starship Flight 12

SpaceX said on May 14 it is targeting Tuesday, May 19, for Starship’s 12th flight test from Starbase in South Texas, a mission set to debut the company’s next-generation Starship and Super Heavy vehicles. The launch window opens at 5:30 p.m. Central time, and SpaceX said the webcast will begin about 30 minutes before liftoff. The May 19 mission is the first flight test for what SpaceX calls Starship V3, a broad redesign of the rocket’s booster, ship, engines and launch infrastructure. SpaceX said the new generation is powered by Raptor 3 engines and will fly from a newly designed pad at Starbase. The company described the flight’s primary goal as demonstrating the redesigned hardware in the flight environment for the first time. (spacex.com) SpaceX said the Super Heavy booster will not attempt a return-to-launch-site catch on Flight 12. Instead, the booster’s primary test objectives are launch, ascent, stage separation, a boostback burn and a landing burn at an offshore landing point in the Gulf of America. SpaceX said it is skipping the catch because this is the first flight of a significantly redesigned vehicle. (spacex.com) The upper stage is scheduled to carry 22 Starlink simulators, which SpaceX said are similar in size to next-generation Starlink satellites. The company said the last two simulators deployed will scan Starship’s heat shield and send imagery to operators as a test of how the heat shield could be inspected before future returns to the launch site. Several heat-shield tiles have been painted white for the flight, SpaceX said, to simulate missing tiles and provide imaging targets during the inspection test. (spacex.com) The company also said one heat-shield tile has been intentionally removed to measure aerodynamic load differences on adjacent tiles during reentry when a tile is missing. A single Raptor engine relight in space is also planned. SpaceX’s May 12 technical update outlined wider changes across the V3 system. The company said the booster now uses three grid fins instead of four, with each fin 50% larger, and that the fuel transfer tube feeding the 33 Raptor engines has been redesigned. On the ship side, SpaceX said Starship V3 includes a clean-sheet propulsion redesign intended to change engine startup, increase tank volume and improve flight control through its reaction control system. (spacex.com) The Federal Aviation Administration says SpaceX must obtain the appropriate permit or vehicle operator license from the FAA Office of Commercial Space Transportation to conduct Starship launches from Boca Chica. FAA materials show SpaceX’s Starship-Super Heavy vehicle license remains current through April 14, 2028, though mission-specific approvals and conditions can still apply. (spacex.com) On May 19, SpaceX said Starship Flight 12 is preparing to launch “as soon as” that Tuesday from Starbase, with the live webcast starting about 30 minutes before the 5:30 p.m. Central opening of the launch window. SpaceX said schedule changes remain possible and directed viewers to its launch page and X account for updates. (spacex.com) (faa.gov)