Elon Musk gives an updated timeline for 1st Starship launch of 2026

• Standing over 400 feet tall, Starship is the world's largest and most powerful launch vehicle.
• The upcoming mission will be the debut flight for Starship's new, more powerful Version 3 prototype.
• SpaceX aims for Starship to eventually transport astronauts to the moon for NASA and later to Mars.

Elon Musk has vowed that SpaceX's gigantic Starship rocket is on the cusp of its 2026 debut.

In a Jan. 26 post on social media site X, which Musk owns, the world's richest man teased that the world's largest rocket was just six weeks away from its next launch. If Musk's timeline bears out, that would mean that Starship's next flight test could be on track for early March.

Starship, which stands more than 400 feet tall when fully stacked, hasn't gotten off the ground in more than three months from SpaceX's Starbase headquarters in South Texas. That October mission, the vehicle's 11th flight test overall, further helped SpaceX end 2025 on an optimistic note after the year began with a series of three explosive failures for Starship.

When Musk's commercial spaceflight company next rolls out Starship to the launch pad, it will be a brand new design of a vehicle destined to help astronauts land on the moon and eventually journey to Mars.

Here's everything to know about Starship's next mission, which SpaceX refers to as "flight 12."

When is Starship flight 12? What to know about next SpaceX launch date

SpaceX has not announced an official target launch date for its next Starship test.

However, billionaire Musk, who is the company's founder and chief executive, posted a photo of the vehicle Jan. 26 on X with a simple message: "Starship launch in 6 weeks."

Taken literally, Musk's announcement could mean Starship is possibly on track for liftoff as early as March 9 from Starbase, SpaceX's company town and headquarters in Texas near the U.S.-Mexico border.

What is SpaceX's Starship? How tall is it?

Standing at more than 400 feet tall when fully stacked, Starship is regarded as the largest and most powerful launch vehicle in the world.

SpaceX is developing Starship to be a fully reusable transportation system, meaning the rocket and vehicle can return to the ground for additional missions. The fully integrated spacecraft is composed of both a lower-stage booster known as Super Heavy that provides the initial burst of thrust at liftoff, as well as an upper stage simply called Starship, which is the vehicle where crew and cargo would ride.

In the years ahead, Starship is due to help NASA astronauts land on the moon under the U.S. space agency's Artemis program. Musk also has dreams of Starship being the vehicle that transports the first humans to Mars.

What happened with Starship in 2025?

SpaceX conducted five Starship flight tests in 2025, the first three of which ended in disaster when the vehicle met a premature fiery demise before completing many key objectives.

But SpaceX ended 2025 on a high note, with its final two Starship launches of the year in August and October being inarguable successes.

The most recent Starship test, taking place Oct. 13, was also the final flight for that iteration of the rocket, known as Version 2.

What's next for SpaceX, Starship in 2026? Version 3 to make debut

SpaceX's next prototype of Starship, known as Version 3, is expected to make its debut during flight 12 from Starbase.

At about 408 feet tall, Version 3 is expected to not only be slightly larger than its predecessor, but considerably more powerful, according to Musk.

If all goes to plan, Version 3 (V3) could be the Starship model to reach orbit and also refuel its upper stage midflight. The complex process, requiring two Starships equipped with docking adapters to meet up in orbit to transfer hundreds of tons of super-cooled propellant, is necessary for Starship to reach distant destinations like Mars.

Eric Lagatta is the Space Connect reporter for the USA TODAY Network. Reach him at [email protected]