Starship
Overview
Fully reusable super-heavy-lift launch system designed for missions to the Moon, Mars, and beyond. V3 (Block 3) variant with Raptor 3 engines is the production version.
Integrated test campaign underway. The first Starship V3 flew on May 22, 2026 (Flight 12) from Starbase Pad 2, losing the booster on its return burn; Flight 13 on July 24, 2026 was the cleanest mission yet, deploying the first 20 operational Starlink V3 satellites and bringing both stages to controlled splashdowns. The Flight 13 upper stage (Ship 40) was towed intact through rough seas to Christmas Island, Australia by August 18, 2026 - the first Starship upper stage ever recovered intact after flight - and departed for Starbase, Texas aboard the semi-submersible vessel Forte on August 28, 2026, a roughly 20,000 km trip expected to take several weeks; engineers inspected the ship in place at Christmas Island and collected heat-shield samples. Flight 14 (hardware Ship 41 and Booster 21) slipped from a 'late August' target: Isaacman said August 14 he expected early September, but an August 20 airspace-planning briefing pointed to a September 15, 2026 target, and Musk said the first tower catch of the upper stage itself will wait 'a few months' beyond Flight 14. V3/Block 3 development is now focused on booster catch and reuse, rapid Starlink V3 cadence, and an orbital ship-to-ship propellant-transfer demo ahead of Artemis missions.