SpaceX schedules Starship V3 launch May 19

SpaceX said it is targeting May 19 for the 12th flight test of Starship from its Starbase site in South Texas, setting up the first flight of the company’s Version 3 vehicle. The launch window opens at 5:30 p.m. Central time, according to SpaceX’s launch page. The test is scheduled to use a newly designed launch pad and a redesigned Super Heavy booster and Starship upper stage powered by the latest version of the Raptor engine. SpaceX said the schedule remains subject to change, as with earlier developmental test flights. ### What is different about this Starship flight? May 19 would mark the maiden flight of Starship V3, which SpaceX introduced on May 12 as the next generation of both the Starship upper stage and Super Heavy booster. The company said the vehicles include broad design changes aimed at faster reuse after flight testing of earlier versions. SpaceX said the Super Heavy V3 booster has three grid fins instead of four, with each fin 50% larger, and uses an integrated hot stage in place of the earlier single-use protective interstage. (spacex.com) The company also said the booster’s fuel transfer tube was redesigned and is now roughly the size of a Falcon 9 first stage, while Starship V3 received a clean-sheet redesign of its propulsion system. ### Why is SpaceX skipping the tower catch this time? The booster on Flight 12 will not attempt a return to the launch site for a catch by the launch tower arms, SpaceX said. Instead, the company said the booster’s main objectives are launch, ascent, stage separation, a boostback burn and a landing burn to an offshore point in the Gulf of America. (spacex.com) SpaceX said it is taking that approach because this is the first flight test of a “significantly redesigned vehicle.” The company has previously used tower catches as a headline demonstration of Starship reusability, but for this mission it is treating the booster as a risk-reduction test article. ### What will the upper stage try to do in space? (spacex.com) Starship’s upper stage is set to carry 22 Starlink simulators on a suborbital trajectory, SpaceX said. The company said the final two simulators will inspect the vehicle’s heat shield and send imagery to the ground as SpaceX tests methods for judging whether Starship is ready to return to the launch site on future missions. (spacex.com) Several heat-shield tiles have been painted white to simulate missing tiles and to serve as imaging targets, according to SpaceX. The company also plans to relight a single Raptor engine in space and has intentionally removed one heat-shield tile to measure aerodynamic loads on neighboring tiles during reentry. ### What route will the rocket fly? (spacex.com) SpaceX’s launch page says the booster will head for an offshore landing point in the Gulf after separation, while the ship will continue toward in-space and reentry tests before splashdown. Reporting by SpaceNews said the planned liftoff time is 6:30 p.m. Eastern, equivalent to 5:30 p.m. Central at Starbase. Other launch-tracking reports published on May 14 said the mission would follow a more southerly path than some earlier tests, with both stages ending in ocean splashdowns rather than a tower catch. (spacex.com) SpaceX’s official launch page does not describe that route in the same detail, but it does say both stages are being assigned water landings for this test. ### Has the FAA cleared the way for more Starship activity? The Federal Aviation Administration said in a final tiered environmental assessment that it was evaluating changes tied to higher Starship launch cadence and operational updates at Boca Chica in Cameron County, Texas. Federal Register and FAA materials say the review covered a proposal to modify SpaceX’s vehicle operator license for up to 25 annual launches and landings, subject to mitigation measures. (msn.com) The FAA’s environmental action is separate from any specific launch authorization. SpaceX’s launch page now lists Flight 12 as preparing to launch on May 19, with a webcast beginning about 30 minutes before liftoff on the company’s site and X account. (spacex.com) (federalregister.gov)