IT·Science News

Starship V3 flies for the first time: ship lands on target, booster lost in the Gulf

SpaceX launched the first third-generation Starship, called V3, from Starbase in Texas on Friday 22 May, at 5:30 p.m. local time, India’s ETV Bharat reports. It was the 12th Starship test flight and the first from the site’s new Pad 2. Jang says the 124-metre rocket flew a day after a launch-tower fault forced a delay.

The flight was a mix of success and failure. All 33 Raptor 3 engines on the Super Heavy booster ignited, but one shut down at liftoff, and the booster’s return burns came up short, ending in a hard splashdown in the Gulf, ETV Bharat says. The ship lost an engine too but reached its planned path, released 20 dummy Starlink satellites and two camera-equipped Starlinks that photographed it in space, then steered to the Indian Ocean and splashed down under control.

“One step closer to the Moon… one step closer to Mars.” — Jared Isaacman, NASA Administrator, via Jang

How each outlet framed it

• ETV Bharat — the engineering: engine-out capability, heat-shield data and a re-entry that mimics future returns to Starbase.
• Newser — the losses: nothing was recovered from the booster, a planned engine relight in space was called off, and the ship toppled and ignited on impact, which SpaceX said was not unexpected.
• Jang — the business clock: the launch came about a month before SpaceX’s planned stock market listing; Elon Musk called it an “epic” first V3 launch and landing.

What we don't know yet: how quickly SpaceX can fix the booster’s engine problems before the next flight.