SpaceX launches Starship V3 for the first time, but loses the booster on return

SpaceX has launched the third advanced version of its Starship rocket for the first time, although the test launch did not go well for Elon Musk’s spaceflight company.

The 407-meter rocket – the most powerful ever built – took off from SpaceX’s Starbase, Texas, at 5:30 pm local time. A few minutes later, the upper stage spacecraft separated from the Super Heavy booster and continued into space.

The booster took off from the Starship and headed back to Earth, where it was supposed to land by simulating in the Gulf of Mexico. But the booster engines did not re-ignite properly due to the continuous burn aimed at returning it to the launch pad. The booster then fell into the water, where it likely exploded.

The Starship lost one of its six Raptor engines as it ascended into space. But it successfully launched all 20 Starlink satellite simulators and two modified Starlink satellites that were intended to record external video of the Starship. About one hour after liftoff, the Starship simulates a landing in the Indian Ocean, before it crashes and explodes as expected.

Although it did not go according to plan, this was an important test launch for SpaceX. It was the first real shake-up of the upgraded Starship V3 hardware, which has been in development for months. The company was also testing a new launchpad at Starbase that it had been developing and building for years.

The launch of the test also comes in a place of history for SpaceX as a company. Its IPO filing was made public this week, and SpaceX is expected to list on the Nasdaq in mid-June. The IPO is reportedly supposed to raise about $75 billion for SpaceX, which the company plans to use to advance development, big AI ambitions, and pay off some of the debt related to xAI and Musk’s X communications company. (That means this may be the last Starship test launch that happens without a stock market reaction.)

SpaceX has spent years and billions of dollars developing the Starship, which it sees as essential to its mission to make life on multiple planets possible. The company plans to use Starship on NASA missions to the moon, and eventually Mars. But the biggest task it needs to do in the near term is to bring the more advanced Starlink satellites into Earth orbit, since Starlink is the only profitable part of SpaceX’s business.

This was the first Starship flight since October 2025. SpaceX had planned to try to launch Starship V3 earlier, but one of the first boosters developed suffered an explosion during a test in November. SpaceX first attempted to launch on Thursday but had to delay as a hydraulic pin in the tower’s arm refused to retract, according to Musk.

This new version of the Starship features SpaceX’s third generation Raptor engines, with a very simple design and inspiration. The new booster is designed to take off quickly and is easily held by the launch tower.

This story has been updated to include information about the simulated landing of the Starship.