Fly the first Starship and Super Heavy V3 vehicles
SpaceX introduced the third generation of Starship and Super Heavy in May 2026, powered by Raptor 3 and flying from a new pad. The question this milestone tracks is whether that configuration actually flew an integrated flight test.
Achieved
What do the status labels mean?
Announced: it has been said out loud, but we have not seen work toward it yet.
In progress: we can point to tests, hardware or contracts that show work under way.
Partially achieved: part of the job is done and shown, but not all of it.
Achieved: evidence matches the whole “done” description we wrote down.
Uncertain: sources disagree or are missing. We say so instead of guessing.
Paused or cancelled: a reliable source says work has stopped or the plan was dropped.
Full definitions →- Said on
- 12 May 2026
- First target In plain English
What is a target window?
A target window is when the company said something would happen. Sometimes that is an exact day. Often it is only a month, a quarter or a year.
We keep it exactly as vague or as precise as the company did. If they said “2026”, we show 2026. We never turn that into a made-up day in December.
When a company gives a new date later, we keep the old one too. You can always see how the plan moved.
Saying “I’ll visit this summer” is a window. Saying “I’ll visit on 14 July” is an exact date. They are not the same promise.
- No target stated
- Current target
- No target stated
- Last checked In plain English
Who checked this, and how?
Each record has a review note. It names who did the check and lists every claim that was compared with its source.
Right now these checks were done with AI help and have not yet been re-read by an independent human editor. We say this plainly on every page rather than hiding it.
A “review due” label means the record is older than two weeks and is scheduled for another look. The content is unchanged until then.
- 13 October 2026Next review due 27 October 2026
What would count as “done”
A Starship and Super Heavy built to the V3 configuration lift off together on an integrated flight test, complete stage separation, and the upper stage reaches its planned trajectory.
Why we say this
SpaceX records that Flight 12 on 22 May 2026 was the first flight of the Starship and Super Heavy V3 vehicles, the Raptor 3 engines and the first flight from Pad 2, and that Starship achieved its planned trajectory despite losing one Raptor vacuum engine. The completion criteria above concern the integrated flight itself; they do not include booster recovery, which did not succeed on this flight.
Stated uncertainty. Both V3 boosters flown so far have ended in hard splashdowns. Booster recovery is a separate capability and is not tracked by this milestone.
How the date moved In plain EnglishWhat is a target window?
A target window is when the company said something would happen. Sometimes that is an exact day. Often it is only a month, a quarter or a year.
We keep it exactly as vague or as precise as the company did. If they said “2026”, we show 2026. We never turn that into a made-up day in December.
When a company gives a new date later, we keep the old one too. You can always see how the plan moved.
Saying “I’ll visit this summer” is a window. Saying “I’ll visit on 14 July” is an exact date. They are not the same promise.
What is a target window?
A target window is when the company said something would happen. Sometimes that is an exact day. Often it is only a month, a quarter or a year.
We keep it exactly as vague or as precise as the company did. If they said “2026”, we show 2026. We never turn that into a made-up day in December.
When a company gives a new date later, we keep the old one too. You can always see how the plan moved.
Saying “I’ll visit this summer” is a window. Saying “I’ll visit on 14 July” is an exact date. They are not the same promise.
No date was ever given for this one. We have not guessed one.
What actually happened
Flight 13 flew the V3 configuration a second time and completed the first full-thrust boostback burn with all 33 engines on a Super Heavy V3, though the burn ended early and the booster again splashed down hard.
Flight 12 lifted off from Starbase at 5:30 p.m. CT. All 33 Raptor 3 engines ignited, one shut down during ascent, hot-staging succeeded, and Starship achieved its planned trajectory after losing one Raptor vacuum engine. The booster performed a partial boostback burn and had a hard splashdown in the Gulf; the ship splashed down in the Indian Ocean on two engines.
Sources In plain EnglishWhere does the evidence come from?
Every status links to the page we read. We record who published it, when, and which part of it supports the claim.
A company saying something proves that the company said it. It does not prove the thing is true. When we can, we look for a second voice: a regulator, a partner like NASA, or an exchange.
If a page disappears later, we flag it. A missing page is not proof that a claim was wrong.
Source rules →
Where does the evidence come from?
Every status links to the page we read. We record who published it, when, and which part of it supports the claim.
A company saying something proves that the company said it. It does not prove the thing is true. When we can, we look for a second voice: a regulator, a partner like NASA, or an exchange.
If a page disappears later, we flag it. A missing page is not proof that a claim was wrong.
Source rules →Who checked this In plain EnglishWho checked this, and how?
Each record has a review note. It names who did the check and lists every claim that was compared with its source.
Right now these checks were done with AI help and have not yet been re-read by an independent human editor. We say this plainly on every page rather than hiding it.
A “review due” label means the record is older than two weeks and is scheduled for another look. The content is unchanged until then.
Who checked this, and how?
Each record has a review note. It names who did the check and lists every claim that was compared with its source.
Right now these checks were done with AI help and have not yet been re-read by an independent human editor. We say this plainly on every page rather than hiding it.
A “review due” label means the record is older than two weeks and is scheduled for another look. The content is unchanged until then.
Claims we compared with their sources
What this check could not tell us
- AI-assisted review drafted on 14 October 2026 for owner approval before publication; not independent human review.
- Flight 14 outcomes rest on SpaceX's own mission page; no independent tracking or regulator source was checked for the flight.
- The 2025 Florida launch count comes from Launch Library 2, an aggregator, with the range operator's all-provider total as corroboration. SpaceX has published no year-end figure.
- Source pages were read through a browser on 13 October 2026 UTC (14 October in Sydney); accessedAt is normalised to 23:30 UTC.