From launch to landing, 1st Starship launch of 2026 appears a success

• The mission debuted the largest and most powerful version of the rocket, known as Version 3, from a new launch pad.
• The uncrewed flight was considered a success, hitting most objectives before a planned splashdown in the Indian Ocean.
• This launch was crucial for SpaceX's plans for lunar travel and a highly anticipated initial public offering (IPO).

For the first time in 2026, SpaceX's massive Starship rocket launched on a critical mission that took it thundering halfway around the world.

The stakes could not have been higher for billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk and the spaceflight company he founded in 2002. SpaceX is not only racing to develop the Starship spacecraft for lunar and interplanetary travel, but is preparing a highly-anticipated initial public offering (IPO) that significantly hinged on the launch's success.

What's more, while the rocket has now launched 12 times since 2023 from South Texas, the Starship rocket that got off the ground Friday, May 22 following a series of delays is the largest and most powerful version SpaceX has launched.

Fortunately for Musk and his rocket company, the uncrewed test flight largely appeared to have gone off without a hitch, with Starship hitting most of its major objectives prior to a fiery finale more than an hour after liftoff.

Miss the launch? Here's a recap of everything that happened.

SpaceX launches Starship on 12th test flight from Starbase

SpaceX initially was working toward a May 19 launch of Starship for the first time in 2026 before a series of three delays, including one scrub May 21 at the last minute.

But the Starship rocket finally got off the ground right on time at 6:30 p.m. ET Friday, May 22, making its first test flight since October 2025. The mission, which SpaceX referred to as flight 12, marked the 12th time Starship has launched since April 2023 from the company's Starbase headquarters and company town in Texas near the U.S.-Mexico border.

This time, though, Starship launched from a completely new launch pad at Starbase.

The launch pad, called Pad 2, was outfitted with an upgraded "propellant farm" with increased storage capacity and more pumps, "enabling much faster vehicle filling for launch," SpaceX said in a lengthy online post. What's more, the mechanical arms on the launch tower tasked with catching a returning booster – nicknamed "chopsticks" – are shorter to allow them to move more quickly to track and secure a booster as it descends.

Flight 12 debuts Version 3 (V3) of Starship

Crucially, the flight test marked the debut of SpaceX's third-generation prototype of Starship. Standing at 407 feet tall when fully stacked, the new iteration of Starship – known as Version 3, or V3 – became the largest and most powerful rocket SpaceX has ever launched.

If all goes to plan, Starship Version 3 is due to become the rocket that finally reaches orbit. SpaceX is developing the prototype to be capable of refueling midflight in a complex process that requires two Starships equipped with docking adapters to meet in orbit to transfer propellant.

The capability is necessary for Starship to reach distant destinations like the moon and Mars.

The main objective of the flight test, as SpaceX explained online, was simply to test both new pieces of hardware "in the flight environment for the first time."

Super Heavy booster lands off Gulf Coast near Texas

Similar to previous designs, the fully integrated Starship spacecraft is composed of both a 236-feet-tall lower-stage booster known as Super Heavy, as well as a 171-feet-tall upper stage simply called Starship.

Both the Super Heavy booster and the upper stage, sometimes simply referred to as "Ship," underwent significant upgrades in preparation for launch, SpaceX said on its website.

Powered by 33 of SpaceX's Raptor-class engines, the booster provided the initial burst of thrust at liftoff before stage separation minutes after launch.

Because SpaceX once again pushed the performance of the Super Heavy booster, the company did not attempt to return and land it back at the launch site – as was last accomplished in March 2025. Instead, the booster failed to reignite its engines during a procedure called a partial boostback burn and made what SpaceX referred to as a "hard splashdown" in the Gulf of Mexico, renamed in the U.S. under executive order as the Gulf of America.

Upper stage flies halfway around world, lands in Indian Ocean

The upper stage had a much longer flight, using its own six Raptor engines to fly halfway around the world before landing and exploding in the Indian Ocean to the boisterous cheers of SpaceX employees gathered to watch the flight.

While one of the engines was lost during its ascent to suborbital space, the vehicle still managed to reach its planned trajectory, SpaceX said.

Along the way, Starship succeeded in deploying 20 mock versions of SpaceX's Starlink satellites and two modified satellites that, in a major first, imaged Starship while it climbed into space.

During the landing phase, SpaceX intentionally tested the limits of the vehicle's capabilities as the company works toward having an upper stage capable of returning to the launch site. Starship ultimately "executed a landing flip, landing burn, and splashdown" using two of its Raptor engines, SpaceX said.

to the raucous cheers

See photos of Starship launching on 12th test

What did Elon Musk, NASA chief, say about Starship flight 12?

Musk, the chief executive of SpaceX, congratulated his team in a post on X "on an epic first Starship V3 launch & landing," adding, "you scored a goal for humanity."

In a post on X, NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman – a close associate of Musk – also congratulated the tech mogul and his rocket company "on a hell of a V3 Starship launch."

Isaacman added: "One step closer to the Moon…one step closer to Mars."

SpaceX develops world's largest rocket for moon, Mars missions

SpaceX is developing the rocket to be a fully reusable transportation system, meaning both the rocket and vehicle can return to the ground for additional missions.

SpaceX is competing with Blue Origin to develop a lunar lander 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 – though in February he announced SpaceX's intentions of shifting its focus to building a lunar city first.

Closer to home, Starship is designed to carry larger versions of the company's Starlink internet satellites and other payloads to Earth orbit.

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