SpaceX’s Starship Flight Test 12 – 22 May 2026

SpaceX’s Starship photographed in space by Dodger Dog’s camera. Flight Test 12, (Ren@art, SpaceX, 22 May 2026).

SpaceX’s Starship Flight Test 12 launched successfully from pad 2 at Bocachica, Texas, USA on 22 May 2026. The first test of version 3 of the Starship was a success, collecting all the expected data and demonstrating the viability of new technology in all areas.

Go to

Updates

Documentary: Critical Path SLT 12 - 10 July 2026.
Starship Launch Test 12 - 22 May 2026.
● Countdown.
● Lift-off & Ascent.
● Stage separation & Booster landing.
● Orbit insertion & Satellite deployment.
● Re-entry & Water landing.
Launch Test 12 Broadcast.

Background

Flight Test 12: Testing goals.
What is new in Flight Test 12?
Documentary: Test like you fly.

References

UPDATES

Absorb pain for change
Making things happen
- 10 July 2026 -

Watch an amazing documentary about the preparation for Starship Flight Test 12.

See what happens inside SpaceX when a flight needs to be scrubbed and the reason for aborting a launch. How it was fixed and successfully launched the next day, and the recovery team’s preparation that secured amazing data about re-entry and landing of Starship.

Starship Flight 12 Documentary (SpaceX, 2026) (34min).

--O--

Starship Launch Test 12
– 22 May 2026 -

The first launch attempt on 21 May was scrubbed because the hydraulic safety pin that locks the lower arm kept triggering a “hold” as it would not retract. This arm supports the fuel pipes during loading of the tanks and is required to fully retract for launch. The issue was solved successfully, and the launch was resumed the next day.

On 22 May 2026, Starship successfully launched from Starbase’s brand-new launch pad 2 at Bocachica, Texas. The flight profile included the following milestones.

• Launch firing all 33 new Raptor Engines.
• Ascent and separation testing the new integrated hot stage.
• The booster performs a return burn and controlled water landing.
• Starship continues entering orbit to deploy 20 satellite simulators and 2 test simulators, a.k.a. Dodger Dogs.
• Starship performs a return burn to initiate re-entry.
• Starship performs an autonomous controlled water landing in the Indian Ocean.

Countdown

Starship v3 during countdown on brand-new Launchpad 2 at Starbase, the “Gateway to Mars”.
Notice the historic relic Sky-Hopper in the carpark opposite the platform (SpaceX, Flight Test 12, 21 May 2026).

Starship v3 loading cryogenic fuels: Methane (CH4) and Liquid Oxygen (LOX)
into the tanks of both stages, Booster and Starship (SpaceX, Flight Test 12, 21 May 2026).

Starship v3 closeup 40sec before launch. Notice larger Grid-Fins and open walls of the integrated Hot-Stage (SpaceX, Flight Test 12, 21 May 2026).

Starship v3 Raptor Engines (also v3): 3 inner, 3 outer rings.
Notice open walls at the interface with the Hot Stage that constitutes the top of the booster’s fuel tank (SpaceX, Flight Test 12, 21 May 2026).

Lift-off & Ascent

Starship FT12: Lift off.
Notice all 33 raptor engines firing on the Super Heavy Booster (SpaceX, Flight Test 12, 22 May 2026).

Starship FT12: Ascent with all booster engines ignited. Bocachica coast in the background (SpaceX, Flight Test 12, 22 May 2026).

Starship FT12: Ascent. Starbase and Bocachica coast in the background (SpaceX, Flight Test 12, 22 May 2026).

Watch Test Flight 12 Lift-off:

Liftoff of Starship! pic.twitter.com/LQLdjK5V6K

— SpaceX (@SpaceX) May 22, 2026

Video of Flight Test 12’s “Liftoff of Starship!” posted on “X” (SpaceX, 22 May 2026) (51sec).

Public videos of the launch of Starship Flight Test 12.

Starship FT12 liftoff, public perspective (@LaunchHeaven, 22 May 2026).

Starship FT12 liftoff, ground camera perspective (@LaunchHeaven, 22 May 2026).

Stage separation & Booster landing

Starship FT12: Separation boost. Note the ring of fire around the interface diverted by the integrated Hot Stage.
Notice that all 6 engines of Starship ignited (SpaceX, Flight Test 12, 22 May 2026).

Starship FT12: Stage Separation. Note the opened wall surrounding the Booster's integrated Hot Stage.
Notice that multiple booster engines switched off after a rapid separation (SpaceX, Flight Test 12, 22 May 2026).

Starship FT12: Superheavy booster in free fall guided by the new larger Grid Fins towards the Gulf of America.
Notice that one of Starship’s engines switched off (SpaceX, Flight Test 12, 22 May 2026).

Most of the Super Heavy Booster engines shut down after stage separation due to an unexpected rapid booster flip (see image above), and 8 of the 28 engines required for the Boost-back Burn, failed to relit. These anomalies contributed to missing the landing spot. In addition, only one engine relit for the Landing Burn, therefore the booster experienced a “hard splashdown”, meaning, it crashed into the Gulf of America.

Consequently, on 27 May 2026, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) requested a mishap investigation declaring “The FAA will oversee the SpaceX-led investigation, be involved in every step of the process, and approve SpaceX’s final report, including any corrective actions”, effectively grounding SpaceX’s Starship until the review is completed.

Orbit insertion & Payload deployment

Despite the unintentional loss of one engine, Starship compensated the power using its remaining 5 raptors to continue with its mission and entered lower orbit.

Once the required altitude and speed were reached, the cargo was deployed without anomalies. Starship’s cargo consisted of 20 satellite simulators and 2 experimental ones fitted with cameras and sensors that stuck out at both ends, for which they were affectionately known as “Dodger Dogs”.

In comparison with Test 11, the payload deployment was faster, satellites were ejected in pairs. The last test satellite recorded the exit looking back at the compartment, the exit door and the outside of the ship filming for the first time the complete Starship suspended in space. In the future, modified instruments will fly around Starship to inspect the Heat Shield before proceeding with re-entry.

Starship FT12: Starship S39 in orbit with the Earth in the background (SpaceX, Flight Test 12, 22 May 2026).

Starship FT12: Stack of 20 Satellite simulators ready for deployment.
Notice the elongated opening at the end and the cupula of the fuel tank at the bottom of the image (SpaceX, Flight Test 12, 22 May 2026).

Starship FT12: Deployment of the first pair of satellite simulators.
The engineering teams at Starbase applaud to celebrate their success (SpaceX, Flight Test 12, 22 May 2026).

Starship FT12: Starlink’s view of the port as it exits Starship.
Note one of the four round bowl-shaped supports or “Docking drogues” that will allow docking of another ship
for fuel transfer in space (SpaceX, Flight Test 12, 22 May 2026).

Starship FT12: Starlink’s view of the full unshielded side of Starship in space (SpaceX, Flight Test 12, 22 May 2026).

Watch Dodger Dog’s view of Starship in space as it is deployed into orbit:

Views of Starship in space from a @Starlink satellite pic.twitter.com/5hfw1n8v1o

— SpaceX (@SpaceX) May 22, 2026

Video of Flight Test 12’s “Starlink satellite view” of deployment from Starship, posted on “X” (SpaceX, 23 May 2026) (1min).

Re-entry & Splashdown

Re-entry was completed successfully with the expected formation of plasma. The process was transmitted live via the Starlink network, avoiding the communications blackout that typically hinders missions during re-entry.

Starship FT12: Re-entry with formation of plasma (SpaceX, Flight Test 12, 22 May 2026).

Waiting for Starship in the Indian Ocean was the SpaceX team represented by Suren Sanai during the live broadcast. Their main goal was “range-clearing”, ensuring the predicted landing zone is clear of vessels or other obstacles; they also collect imagery of Starship’s water landing using cameras mounted on buoys. Over time, the buoys and cameras were fitted with means to steer and aim at the fast-moving vehicle, helped by Starship’s ability of precise landing.

Starship FT12: Suren Sanai represents the Indian Ocean team, preparing bouys with cameras and aiming equipment
(SpaceX, Flight Test 12, 22 May 2026).

Starship FT12: Indian Ocean SpaceX team onboard “JMR19005 N.T.140” in charge of range-clearing and imagery collection
(SpaceX, Flight Test 12, 22 May 2026).

Inside the atmosphere, Starship cruised down towards the Indian Ocean and around 20 metres above sea level, the Raptor engines lit up for a landing burn, flipping the ship to vertical and hovering over the landing zone before touchdown over the ocean. Once in the water, Starship fell on its belly and the programmed auto-destruction mechanism was activated, resulting in a large explosion that consumed the remaining fuel minimising chemical contamination of the ocean. The event was filmed by buoy and drone cameras. Debris from the ship were later gathered by recovery teams.

Starship FT12: Starship descending inside the atmosphere at subsonic speed (SpaceX, Flight Test 12, 22 May 2026).

Starship FT12: Starship’s landing burn and flip to vertical (SpaceX, Flight Test 12, 22 May 2026).

Starship FT12: Starship falling from vertical onto the ocean (SpaceX, Flight Test 12, 22 May 2026).

Starship FT12: Starship’s controlled explosion (SpaceX, Flight Test 12, 22 May 2026).

Starship FT12: Starship’s mushroom cloud following explosion to burn out fuel (SpaceX, Flight Test 12, 22 May 2026).

Watch Buoy’s view of Starship water landing:

Starship flip and landing burn at the end of its twelfth flight test pic.twitter.com/0iJUox3FJt

— SpaceX (@SpaceX) May 25, 2026

Video of Flight Test 12’s Starship's landing on the Indian Ocean, posted on “X” (SpaceX, 23 May 2026) (23sec).

Starlink-equipped buoys provided real-time video streaming in the Indian Ocean during Starship's twelfth flight test pic.twitter.com/SzfmwUMg4N

— Starlink (@Starlink) May 26, 2026

Video of Flight Test 12’s Starship's flip and landing on the Indian Ocean, posted on “X” (SpaceX, 23 May 2026) (16sec).

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Launch Broadcast – 22may2026

Hosts

The broadcast of Flight Test 12 Launch was hosted by Emmy Award Winner Kate Tice, Senior Manager, Quality Systems Engineering; Jake Berkowitz, Lead Propulsion Engineer, and Dan Huot, from the Communications team, all based near the production floor at Star Factory in Bocachica, Texas. An additional presenter was Tyler Lionquist, Starlink Business Analyst based in Hawthorne, Texas.

Flight Test 12 Broadcast Hosts: Kate Tice, Jake Berkowitz, Dan Huot and Tyler Lionquist (SpaceX, 22 May 2026).

Guests

A special guest of the webcast was Jared Isaacman, a former SpaceX customer in Inspiration 4 and Polaris Dawn missions. He flew onboard Dragon Capsule Resilience in both missions and in the latter, he performed the first commercial spacewalk. Isaacman is the current NASA Administrator and arrived at the launch complex in style, with a flyby on his supersonic F5 private jet. He was delighted to see the changes and a brand-new rocket on the launchpad.

Find more about the Polaris Dawn mission that launched on 10 September 2024 at SpaceX Polaris Dawn - 10 to 15 Sep 2024 (opens on a new tab/window).

And about Jared Isaacman’s new role as NASA Administrator 18 December 2025 at Jared Isaacman NASA Administrator - 18 Dec 2025 (opens on a new tab/window).

Jared Isaacman’s private F5 jet during flyby over Starbase at Boca Chica.
Below: Co-pilot filming Launch Pad 2 before Starship FT 12 launch, Starbase at Boca Chica, Texas (Matt Anderson, Yahoo! News, 23 May 2026).

Starship on Launch Pad 2 before FT 12 launch, Starbase at Boca Chica, Texas (Matt Anderson, Yahoo! News, 23 May 2026).

Flight Test 12 Broadcast: Jared Isaacman, NASA Administrator interviewed by Dan Huot (SpaceX, 22 May 2026).

Another news presented during the webcast was that entrepreneur Chun Wang, who sponsored the Fram 2 mission, will be the first commercial inter-planetary traveller onboard the first Starship mission to fly past the Moon on its way to Mars.

Wang also flew the Dragon Capsule Resilience fitted with a transparent cupula.

Learn more about Fram 2 that launched on 31 March 2025 at SpaceX FRAM 2 - 31 Mar to 04 Apr 2025 (opens on a new tab/window).

Entrepreneur Chun Wang during Fram 2 mission with the Earth in the background seen through Dragon Capsule’s cupula (SpaceX, 01 April 2025).

Cameo appearance

During the first launch attempt, rapper Nicki Minaj surprised the audience when she appeared during the broadcast wearing a “Starship” T-Shirt. The media reported an “embarrassing appearance” at the failed rocket launch.

Rapper Nicki Minaj surprised the audience appearing during FT12 broadcast (SpaceX, 21 May 2026).

Starship's Flight Test 12 Launch: Full Webcast

Watch Flight Test 12’s full broadcast on SpaceX.com (1h 44m)

Watch Starship's twelfth flight test https://t.co/caRB1thMlg

— SpaceX (@SpaceX) May 22, 2026

Video of full broadcast of Starship Flight Test 12 Launch from Launchpad 2 at Starbase, posted on “X” (SpaceX, 22 May 2026) (1h 44sec).

END of UPDATES

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BACKGROUND

Flight Test 12: Testing goals

The following is a summary of the main goals of Starship’s Flight Test 12. With this new version, the full system required thorough testing to analyse issues and find solutions for future versions.

Booster: Successful launch, ascent, stage separation, boostback burn, landing burn and landing point offshore in the Gulf of America. Because this is the first test for a new system the booster will not attempt return for catch.

Starship: Payload deployment of 20 Starlink simulators (emulating v3 satellites) and 2 v2 simulators modified with measuring instruments. It was also envisioned to send modified satellites that scan Starship’s heat shield and transmit images to control to simulate inspection for future missions. Some tiles painted white to simulate missing tiles. Relight of single Raptor engine in space.

Launchpad: Evaluate functionality of the structure and its integrity.

What is new in Test 12?

The third generation of Starship and Super Heavy vehicles was powered by the third version of Raptor engines. The assembled rocket launched from a new version of Launch pad at Starbase.

Super Heavy version 3 Booster

Integrated Hot Stage with open walls
and only 3 grid fins (SpaceX, 2026).

1. Grid Fins reduced from 4 to 3, each 50% larger and stronger to support lift and catch operations. They have been lowered in the body to reduce heat exposure during stage separation.
2. The Hot Stage is now integrated, consisting of a steel plate shaped as a dome to protect the fuel tank. The walls are open to allow energy dispersion.
3. Cryogenic fuel transfer tube to 33 Raptor engines was redesigned to ensure starting up simultaneously, faster and more reliably.
4. The aft and thermal protection system around the engines was redesigned.
5. The booster now has two connection points to the pad.

Starship version 3

1. Propulsion system redesigned to increase propellant tank volume and is more exposed to avoid trap propellent leakage.
2. Aft fluid and electrical system rerouted to reduce environmental control.
3. Aft flap actuator reduced from 2 to a single one with 3 motors, providing redundancy and reducing mass and cost.
4. Starlink PEZ dispenser enhanced for faster satellite deployment.
5. Improved cryogenic propellent management for extended coasts in space.
6. Docking drogues added to enable docking with other Starships with propellant feed connection for ship-to-ship propellant transfer.
7. Advanced avionics for higher flight-rate, reusability and reliability.
8. Upgraded multi-sensor navigation for precise autonomous flight with higher redundancy.
9. Precision radio-frequency sensors for measuring propellent in micro-gravity, important to monitor propellant during transfer.
10. Upgraded cameras to provide 50 views for better coverage, with high-speed Starlink connection.

Raptor Engine version 3

1. Increased thrust from previous 230 to 250 Tonnes-Force (tf) at sea-levels, and for vacuum engines, from previous 258 to 275 tf.
2. Sensors and controllers covered by engine thermal protection.
3. Redesigned ignition system.
4. Lighter engines with mass reduced from 1.6 to 1.5 tonnes.

Raptor Engines: 33 on v2 (left) and v3 booster. Bottom: Evolution of raptor engines 1 to 3, 2017 to 2026 (SpaceX, 2026).

Launch Pad 2

1. Increased storage capacity of propellant farm.
2. More propellant pumps for faster vehicle filling.
3. Shorter tower chopsticks for faster motion, with their actuators changed from hydraulic to electromechanical for better speed, redundancy and reliability.
4. The quick disconnect arm for loading propellant is stronger and rotates farther away from the rocket during launch.
5. Launch mount and hold-downs redesigned to improve load sharing, reliability and protection. Vent valves and filters for booster fluid relocated to isolate Oxygen from Methane for safety.
6. A new flame trench with bidirectional flame diverter and deflector re-designed to eliminate ablation, built with concrete-filled stainless-steel walls and stainless-steel cladding on the floor, making it one of the most heavily reinforced and protected flame trenches ever built.

Launch Pad 2: New development with a taller base and a propellant farm.
Note Grass-hopper original SpaceX Rocket in the carpark (SpaceX, 2026).

Starlink Satellite Network

Stack of satellites inside Starship’s hull.
Note two of the four docking drogues
under the satellite deployment door (SpaceX, 2026).

Two of the released dummy-satellites were tech demonstrations with instruments at both ends, therefore named “dodger dogs”.

The new instruments tested v3 components and included cameras that provided video of the deployment and views of the outside of Starship (see above). Future instruments will allow inspection of the heatshield before re-entry.

V3 Starlink downlink capacity will be 60 Terabits/sec per satellite, which is 20 times more than each v2 does today.

In the future, Starlink will include AI satellites that will allow cloud computing reaching a capacity of 100gW to 1tW of AI computing annually. Later, a new orbital network around the Moon will connect with that around the Earth using lasers for fast transmissions.

Starlink’s Orbital Network extended to the Moon for laser communications with the Earth (SpaceX, 2026).

Orbital Data Centres

Elon Musk provided a view into the future of orbital space and the harnessing of solar power.

“By directly harnessing near-constant solar power with little operating or maintenance costs, these satellites will transform our ability to scale compute. It’s always sunny in space! Launching a constellation of a million satellites that operate as orbital data centres is a first step towards becoming a Kardashev II-level civilization, one that can harness the Sun’s full power, while supporting AI-driven applications for billions of people today and ensuring humanity’s multi-planetary future” (Elon Musk, 2026).

More about Elon Musk’s views on data centres in upcoming posts.

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Test like you fly

SpaceX presents the evolution of Spaceship in the documentary "Test Like You Fly" (25min).

Watch the epic journey of Starship up to Test Flight 12 (SpaceX, 2026) (25min)
(Click the image to open the link in a new tab or window).

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REFERENCES

» Kimmins L (2026) MAGA Rapper Makes Embarrassing Appearance at Elon Musk’s Failed Rocket Launch. Yahoo! News Malasia, 22 May 2026 [Online article]. Available at Yahoo.com. Accessed: 02 Jun 2026.
» Leone A (2026) FAA grounds SpaceX’s Starship after booster malfunction. MyNews13, 27 May 2026. [Online article]. Available at MyNews13.com. Accessed: 04 June 2026.
» Low L (2026) Artemis II Crew Arrives at Launch Site, Shares Moon Mascot. NASA, Missions, 27 March 2026. [Online article]. Available at NASA.gov. Accessed: 30 March 2026.
» NASA (2026) NASA's Artemis II Crew Comes Home (Official Broadcast). NASA, 10 April 2026. [Online video]. Available at YouTube.com. Accessed: 10 April 2026.
» Rees J (2025) Starbase Pad 2: Design Advancements from Pad 1. Nasaspaceflight (NSF), 19 August 2025. [Online article]. Available at nasaspaceflight.com. Accessed: 07 June 2026.
» SpaceX (2026) Liftoff of Starship. “X” Post, 22 May 2026. [Social Media Post]. Available at X.com. Accessed: 24 May 2026.
» SpaceX (2026) Views of Starship in space from a @Starlink satellite. “X” Post, 23 May 2026. [Social Media Post]. Available at X.com. Accessed: 24 May 2026.
» SpaceX (2026) Updates. SpaceX blog. [Online articles]. Available at SpaceX.com. Accessed: 24 May 2026.
» Storyful (2026) Starbase seen from the sky ahead of SpaceX Launch. Yahoo! News [Online article]. Available at Yahoo.com. Accessed: 02 June 2026.

== END of SpaceX’s Starship Flight Test 12 – 22 May 2026 ==

SpaceX Starship Flight Test 11 – 13 October 2025

Article cover: Article cover: SpaceX’s Starship Flight Test 11, Elon Musk crashing the live broadcast (Ren@art, SpaceX, 13 October 2025).

SpaceX’s Starship Flight Test 11 launched on 13 October 2025. The test was a tremendous success, collecting all the data that it aimed at and demonstrating the viability of changes made to the ship to test for endurance in real flight.

Go to

Updates

14 October 2025: Starship after Flight Test 11.

Background

Starship Flight Test 11.
Launch broadcast and flight events.
Starship development.
The future of Starship tests.
Watch the launch broadcast.

References

UPDATE

Future of Starship
– 14 October 2025

SpaceX announced on their post-launch comment “Focus now turns to the next generation of Starship and Super Heavy, with multiple vehicles currently in active build and preparing for tests. This next iteration will be used for the first Starship orbital flights, operational payload missions, propellant transfer, and more as we iterate to a fully and rapidly reusable vehicle with service to Earth orbit, the Moon, Mars, and beyond”.

Michael Wall, Senior Space Writer at Space.com, quoted Elon Musk “Starship V3 will be capable of flying to Mars and may well do so next year, if testing continues to go well” (www.space.com, 2025)

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BACKGROUND

Starship Flight Test 11

Test 11 consisted of Block 2 Starship vehicle, which included Booster 15 and Ship 38.

Booster 15 had flown before in “Flight Test 8” and was refurbished with 24 flight-proven engines and tested. While Ship 38 was constructed for this purpose and underwent cryogenic tests that started in July. Static engine fire testing was completed in late September.

Successful static burn test of Booster (left) and Ship in September 2025 (SpaceX, 13 October 2025).

Testing goals

• Booster: The booster aimed at demonstrating a unique landing burn using the three central engines and two from the inner ring to fine-tune the booster’s path, adding redundancy for unexpected engine shutdowns. To hover over the ocean the booster aims at using the three central engines.
• Load: The ship aimed at deploying 8 Starlink simulators (successfully demonstrated in flight 10). The simulators will follow the same re-entry path and get destroyed as they enter the atmosphere.
• Engines: As on previous tests, a raptor engine was re-lit in space.
• Flight: A banking manoeuvre was tested at subsonic speeds before Ship attempted a vertical landing on the Indian Ocean.
• Shell: To allow for metal expansion and contraction during flight, Starship’s hexagonal tiles have a small gap between them, which lets some of the plasma seep onto Starship’s walls. Test 11 had a modification to the heatshield using Crunch-Wrap, a pliable material called Vulcan Felt that wraps around the underside and free edges of each tile closing the gaps between them, therefore improving the shielding effect. Like in previous test flights, some tiles were removed to test specific zones for stress.

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Flight Test 11 - Launch

The launch event was hosted by Jake Berkowitz, Lead Propulsion Engineer, Amanda Lee, Build Reliability Engineer, Dan Huot, Communications, and Tyler Lionquist, Starlink Business Analyst, who presented sections on Starlink.

Flight Test 11. Hosts of live broadcast: Jake Berkowitz, Amanda Lee, Dan Huot and Tyler Lionquist (SpaceX, 2025).

Weather conditions were monitored closely at launch site and over the Indian Ocean. The mission had optimal weather for launch with clear cloudless skies.

An hour before launch, the propellent tanks are filled in the booster and the ship. The tanks need to be chilled to hold 5,000 Tons of Oxygen and Methane, the liquid propellants used by Starship.

Launch and ascent went exceptionally well, followed by stage separation. This was the last launch from Pad 1, a launch site that has part of historic flights for SpaceX. Future launches will be from the new and improved Pad 2 (see Future Plans below).

Flight Test 11: Launch and ascent from Boca Chica, Texas (SpaceX, 13 October 2025).

Flight Test 11: Ship 38 ascending and looking down at launch pad (SpaceX, 13 October 2025).

Stage separation burn and Hot Stage separated from the booster as both fall down towards the surface (SpaceX, 13 October 2025).

The Super Heavy Booster directed its trajectory using the grid flaps towards a precise location on the Gulf of America, water-landing with now reliable precision. A new V configuration of engine activation was tested successfully for the landing burn.

Booster landing burn and splashdown on the Gulf of America (SpaceX, 13 October 2025).

While in lower orbit, at around 21 minutes after launch, Ship opened its side door and deployed 8 satellite simulators in a slow but steady sequence that went without issues. This is an important test in preparation of the deployment of up to 60 satellites per flight, greatly increasing the capacity of the Starlink Network.

Satellite simulators released through Ship’s side port (SpaceX, 13 October 2025).

The next event was the test of lighting up a raptor engine while in space. This is a crucial function that needs to be reliable to initiate de-orbit of future mission. All 3 tests carried out in various missions since Flight 6 were completed as expected.

Re-lighting of Raptor engine in the vacuum of space (SpaceX, 13 October 2025).

Re-entry is the peak test of the structure of the ship travelling at 8km/sec as it plunges into the progressively denser atmosphere. Heat is generated by friction of air particles against the ceramic tiles that cover the underside of the ship, generating large amounts of energy in the form of plasma. Communications that normally break up, were maintained thanks to the Starlink satellite network, allowing direct view of the testing that included removal of tiles in crucial area to test full exposure of the stainless-steel hull to extreme temperatures.

Re-entry with creation of plasma. Once in the atmosphere, the ship prepared for landing with a flip from horizontal to vertical (SpaceX, 13 October 2025).

Ship approached the Indian Ocean at the calculated location, and the landing burn went as expected splashing down in a vertical position, culminating a tremendously successful Flight Test 11. The crowds of technicians at SpaceX celebrated the achievement, a result of their hard work.

Ship’s landing burn and splashdown. SpaceX staff celebrating their achievement (SpaceX, 13 October 2025).

Watch the Starship’s descent and splash down in high definition (1m).

SpaceX Flight Test 11 descent, flip and water-landing on the Indian Ocean (The Launch Pad, 14 October 2025).

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Starship development

A comparison between Starship and the largest commercial airline, the Boeing 747 shows that the height of the booster alone is 5 metres short of the length of the airplane and when put together, the final height of Starship at 123metres is more than 150% taller than the Boeing 747. A single raptor engine produces double the thrust of all four engines and the total thrust of the booster with 33 engines reaches 17 million pounds of force that equals to the power of 64 Boeing 747s.

Comparison of Starship features with Boeing 747 (SpaceX, 2025).

While the booster or first stage has engines that run on liquid Methane and liquid Oxygen, the Starship upper or second stage has 6 engines, of which 3 are optimised for sea level performance and 3 for vacuum work. This stage is designed to eventually carry cargo, payloads and people to space and return.

Starlink simulators are a test version of the new V3 satellites that will increase the performance of the Starlink network to downlink capacity of 60 Tb/sec per launch and provide Gigabit connectivity to users, which is 20 times more than Falcon 9 launches achieve today. Although only 8 simulators are used for testing, when fully operational, Starship will hold and deploy up to 60 satellites per flight.

Starlink is the largest sub-orbital communications network in the world. It serves more than 150 countries with over 7 million customers.

Evolution in size and capacity of Starlink Satellites (SpaceX, 2025).

Between the stages there is a hot-stage steel ring which acts as a launch base for the second stage during ascent. This ring falls onto the ocean (Gulf of America) at very high speeds (about 30-50 km/sec) and is recovered by a team of divers and a boat. In the future it will be integrated into the top of the booster.

Hot Stage Ring located between the Booster and the Ship (SpaceX, 2025).

Recovery of hot stage from the Gulf of America (Starship Gazer, YouTube, 23oct2025).

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The future of Starship testing

• Launch pad: Launch pad 2 is being built with a new tower for future launches and catches. Located next to Pad 1 (built in 2019), Orbital Launch Pad 2 (OLP-2) has multiple key enhancements, including structural optimisation for future heavy-lift missions and to ensure quick turnaround between launches, which includes more sophisticated ground support systems. More facilities for static engine testing and checks, minimised environmental impact.

Launch Pad 2 is an improved launch platform built next to Pad 1 in Boca Chica, Texas (nasaspaceflight.com, 2025).

• Booster: The booster has a re-designed fuel transfer tube that runs in the centre of the body to allow better flip and simultaneous engine startup. The hot-stage ring will now be integrated onto the top of the booster, becoming fully re-usable, with enhanced ventilation to diverge heat away from the fuel tanks.
• Grid fins: Grid fins will be 50% larger and reduce from 4 to 3 and will be reinforced to be used for catching.
• Engines: A new version of engine, the Raptor 3 with simplified configuration providing more power and better gimble or steering.
• Tiles: Production of each tile takes about 40 hours at the Tile Bakery, which is is now fully automated and outputs 1,000 tiles a day. To cover the needs of future multiple daily flights, the bakery aims at producing 7,000 tiles daily.

Concept of docking adaptors connecting starships in the future (SpaceX, 2025).

• M & M: SpaceX is planning on reaching the moon with Starship carrying cargo by 2028 and two years later, land on Mars. SpaceX has secured the first customer, the Italian Space Agency, what will send experiments to Mars. More news about going to Mars available at www.spacex.com/humanspaceflight/ (link opens on a new tab or window).

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Launch broadcast – 13 October 2025

Watch the full launch broadcast on SpaceX’s Launches page (1h 43m).

Link to SpaceX’s Launches page to watch the broadcast of Flight Test 11 from 13 October 2025 (SpaceX, 2025). (Click the image to open the link in a new tab or window).

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REFERENCES

» SpaceX (2025) Posts. “X” [Online post updates]. Available at X.com. Accessed: 10 September 2025.
» SpaceX (2025) Mars and beyond [Online]. Available at X.com. Accessed: 17 October 2025.
» SpaceX (2025) Starship’s Eleventh Flight Test. SpaceX [Online article]. Available at SpaceX. Accessed: 30 August 2025.
» Starship Gazer (2024) Recovery of hot stage from the Gulf of America (23 October 2024). [Online video]. Available at YouTube. Accessed: 30 August 2025.
» Wall M (2025) Getting even bigger: What’s next for SpaceX’s Starship after Flight 11 success. Space.com [Online]. Available at Space.com. Accessed: 10 December 2025.
» Wikipedia (2025) Starship flight test 11. Wikipedia [Online article]. Available at Wikipedia. Accessed: 15 October 2025.

== END of SpaceX Starship Flight Test 11 – 13 October 2025 ==