By 
May 21st, 2026
Image credit: SpaceX
The twelfth flight test of Starship is preparing to launch today, Thursday, May 21. The launch window will open at 5:30 p.m. “Central Texas Time” (CT).
As is the case with all developmental testing, the schedule is dynamic and likely to change.
For status reports, keep an eye on this site at https://x.com/SpaceX
A live webcast of the flight test will begin about 45 minutes before liftoff.
Go to:
https://www.spacex.com/launches/starship-flight-12
Primary test objective
As noted by a SpaceX posting, “the upcoming flight will debut the next generation Starship and Super Heavy vehicles, powered by the next evolution of the Raptor engine and launching from a newly designed pad at Starbase.”
The booster’s primary test objective, SpaceX explains, “will be executing a successful launch, ascent, stage separation, boostback burn, and landing burn at an offshore landing point in the Gulf of America. As this is the first flight test of a significantly redesigned vehicle, the booster will not attempt a return to the launch site for catch.”
Image credit: SpaceX
Upper stage targets
Post liftoff, the Starship’s upper stage will target multiple in-space and reentry objectives, including a payload deployment of 20 Starlink simulators, similar in size to next-generation Starlink V3 satellites, and two specially modified Starlink satellites.
The two modified satellites will test hardware planned for Starlink V3 and will attempt to scan Starship’s heat shield and transmit imagery down to operators.
By using this technique, it will test methods of analyzing Starship’s heat shield readiness for return to launch site on future missions.
Several tiles on Starship have been painted white to simulate missing tiles and serve as imaging targets in the test. All of the deployed payloads will be on the same suborbital trajectory as Starship.
A relight of a single Raptor engine while in space is also planned.
Image credit: SpaceX
Experimental actions
For Starship entry, SpaceX explains, “a single heat shield tile has been intentionally removed to measure the aerodynamic load differences on adjacent tiles when there is a tile missing.”
The ship will also perform experimental actions tested on previous flight tests, including a maneuver to intentionally stress the structural limits of the vehicle’s rear flaps and a dynamic banking maneuver to mimic the trajectory that future missions returning to Starbase will fly.
To read about the upgrades debuting on Starship, Super Heavy, Raptor, and the launch pad on Flight 12, go to:
https://www.spacex.com/updates#starship-v3
To watch “Test Like You Fly”, the first episode in a new Starship series that takes you inside the factories and onto the launch pads as these first vehicles prepared for flight, go to:
https://www.spacex.com/content/starship/test-like-you-fly
Image credit: SpaceX
Posted in Space News
