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Starship flight test 12

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Starship flight test 12
Mission typeFlight test
OperatorSpaceX
Mission duration1 hour, 6 minutes, 22 seconds
Spacecraft properties
SpacecraftStarship Ship 39[1]
Spacecraft typeStarship (Block 3)
ManufacturerSpaceX
Start of mission
Launch dateMay 22, 2026, 22:30:22 UTC (5:30:22 pm CDT)[2][3]
RocketSuper Heavy (Block 3, B19)[4]
Launch siteStarbase, OLP-2
End of mission
DestroyedBooster 22:36:42 UTC (5:36:42 CDT)
Landing dateShip 23:36:50 UTC (6:36:50 CDT)
Landing site
Orbital parameters
Perigee altitude−7 km (−4.3 mi)
Apogee altitude195 km (121 mi)
Inclination28°
Payload
  • 20 × Starlink V3 Mass Simulators
  • 2 × Modified Starlink V2
Mass~37,500 kg (82,700 lb)[5]

Starship flight test 12 was the twelfth flight test of a SpaceX Starship launch vehicle, using Booster 19 and Ship 39.[6] Flight 12 featured the first use of Block 3 vehicles, as well as being the first launch from Starbase's second launch pad.[7]

Its trajectory was more southerly to allow potential debris to fall into the open ocean in the middle of the Caribbean, rather than inhabited areas. The ship splashed down in the Indian Ocean as planned, as with most previous flights testing Starship's ability to navigate to a precise destination.[8] The flight was originally supposed to use Booster 18, but it was destroyed shortly before cryogenic testing,[9] resulting in Booster 19 becoming the flight vehicle.[6]

Background

[edit]

Vehicle testing ahead of launch

[edit]

Booster 18 and implosion

[edit]

B18 assembly took place from May through October 2025 in Mega Bay 1. On November 20, 2025, it was rolled out to the Massey test site for its cryo testing campaign.[10] However, during ambient temperature pressure testing on November 21, 2025, a composite overwrapped pressure vessel in one of the chines failed and the resultant shrapnel ruptured the LOX tank and damaged the LCH4 downcomer.[11] It was then scrapped a few days later.

Booster 19

[edit]

B19 began stacking on November 27, 2025, with it being fully stacked on December 24.[12] Booster 19 rolled to Massey's test site for cryogenic testing on February 1, 2026.[13] This testing occurred shortly after arriving at Massey's where it completed an ambient gas pressure testing followed by a partial cryogenic testing and three full cryogenic tests.[14] The booster returned to Mega Bay 1 on February 9. It rolled to launch site on March 8, 2026[15] for engine testing. It was lifted hours after and only had 10 engines.[16] It conducted a tanking test followed by DSS and deluge activation on March 10,[17] and conducted another tanking test with DSS activation, followed by a potential Spin Prime test on the 12th. It was lifted off the OLM for inspections, lifted on the 14th, and they conducted an ignitor test on the 15th[18] and conducted a 10 engine Static Fire on the 16th.[19] This test was aborted after ~0.37s due to a Ground Support Equipment issue, engines however successfully started.[20] It then rolled back to Mega Bay 1 for installation of the 23 remaining engines.[21] On April 11, it returned to the launch site with all thirty three engines,[22] where it underwent either a cryogenic test or spin prime on April 12.[23]

Ship 39

[edit]

S39's LOX (liquid oxygen) header tank was spotted in Starfactory on March 16, 2025.[24] It was installed into its nosecone on April 9.[25] The payload bay was integrated with the rest of the nosecone in mid August.[26] Stacking of the ship concluded in mid November.[27] S39 rolled to Massey's and placed on a repurposed static fire stand on February 26, 2026,[28] where it conducted a cryogenic test on February 28.[29] This testing continued on March 2,[30] with the vehicle returning to the production site on March 8.[31] Rollout for engine testing occurred on April 11.[32]

Mission profile

[edit]
AttemptPlannedResultTurnaroundReasonDecision pointWeather go (%)Notes
121 May 2026, 5:30:00 pmScrubbed—Technical21 May 2026, 6:41 pm ​(T−00:00:40 hold[dubious – discuss])55[33]Hydraulic pin on launch tower quick disconnect arm failed to retract.[34]
222 May 2026, 5:30:22 pmSuccess1 day 0 hours 0 minutes85[35]

The mission profile for flight test 12, launched on 22:30 UTC May 22, 2026,[2][3] was similar to the previous flight test, with Starship being placed on a suborbital flight, slightly short of reaching orbit.[36]

After stage separation, the booster flipped abnormally rapidly, which quickly caused most of the engines to fail. During the landing burn only one engine ignited on the Super Heavy and the booster crashed into the Gulf of Mexico at a speed of 1,450 km/h instead of near the launch site as planned.[37]

During the Ship's ascent, one of the six Raptors shut down after only 36 seconds, and the Ship performed a contingency profile which involved losing some altitude prior to SECO to build up velocity.[38]

The ship was carrying 22 Starlink simulators, similar to the simulators on the previous test flights. They were deployed with an improved 'Pez dispenser' mechanism. The last two of these two simulators imaged the ship's heat shield during the flight.[39][37] Like with the previous flight test, the ship was expected to attempt to relight one of its Raptor engines in space and conduct a banking maneuver to simulate the maneuvers needed to return to the launch site, with the addition of a maneuver that would intentionally stress the ship's front and rear flaps during re-entry.[37] However, the relight was cancelled due to an earlier engine out. During re-entry, the ship performed a maneuver intended to stress the aft flaps and a dynamic banking test to simulate a future path ships returning to Starbase will fly. The ship successfully re-ignited two of its three center Raptor engines with one of them disabled prior to ignition, then shut down one of them before splashing down.[citation needed]

On May 27, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) declared the Super Heavy failure a mishap and required SpaceX to perform an investigation. The FAA grounded Starship until the investigation is complete.[40]

Flight timeline

[edit]
Time Event May 21, 2026 May 22, 2026
−00:50:00 SpaceX flight director conducts poll and verifies go for propellant load Go for propellant loading Go for propellant loading
−00:38:53 Ship LOX (liquid oxygen) load start Success Success
−00:35:00 Booster LOX load start Success Success
−00:34:43 Booster fuel (liquid methane) load start Success Success
−00:32:39 Ship fuel load start Success Success
−00:21:30 Raptor begins engine chill on booster and ship Success Success
−00:02:50 Booster propellant load complete Success Success
−00:02:10 Ship propellant load complete Success Success
−00:00:30 SpaceX flight director verifies go for launch Go for launch, later scrubbed for technical issue Go for launch
−00:00:17 Flame diverter activation N/a Success
−00:00:03 Raptor ignition sequence begins N/a Success
+00:00:00 Liftoff N/a Partial success
All engines lit at liftoff. One engine failed at T+00:01:42.
+00:00:45 Max q (moment of peak aerodynamic stress on the rocket) N/a Success
+00:02:22 Super Heavy MECO (most engines cut off) N/a Success
+00:02:24 Hot-staging (Starship Raptor ignition and stage separation) N/a Partial success
All six engines lit during staging. One vacuum engine failed at T+00:03:10.
+00:02:30 Super Heavy boostback burn start N/a Partial failure
20/28 engines were initially relit with most of these engines failing within seconds.
+00:03:30 Super Heavy boostback burn shutdown N/a Failure
Ended early at T+00:02:49
+00:06:34 Super Heavy landing burn start N/a Partial failure
Only one engine relit
+00:06:59 Super Heavy landing burn shutdown N/a Failure
Water impact at T+00:06:20
+00:08:11 Starship engine cutoff (SECO) N/a Success
Ended late at T+00:09:13 to compensate for engine out.
+00:17:37 Payload deploy demo start N/a Success
+00:27:15 Payload deploy demo complete N/a Success
+00:38:37 Raptor in-space relight demo N/a Skipped
+00:47:47 Starship entry N/a Success
+01:02:16 Starship is transonic N/a N/a
+01:03:08 Starship is subsonic N/a N/a
+01:05:06 Landing burn start N/a Partial success
One engine was disabled prior to ignition
+01:05:08 Landing flip N/a Success
+01:05:17 Landing burn 3 to 2 engines N/a N/a
+01:05:24 Landing burn 2 to 1 engine N/a Success
+01:05:26 Splashdown N/a Success
Source: SpaceX[37]

References

[edit]
  1. ↑ Weber, Ryan (September 5, 2025). "Ten flights in, the Starship Program has had successes and failures". NASASpaceFlight.com. Archived from the original on September 9, 2025. Retrieved September 9, 2025.
  2. 1 2 "Starship Flight 12". Next Spaceflight. Retrieved May 18, 2026.
  3. 1 2 Wall, Mike; Malik, Tariq; Dinner, Josh (May 18, 2026). "SpaceX Starship Flight 12 live launch updates: 1st Starship V3 launch scrubbed, may fly May 22". Space.com. Archived from the original on May 22, 2026. Retrieved May 22, 2026.
  4. ↑ Weber, Ryan (November 28, 2025). "Booster 19 stacking begins as SpaceX pushes forward from B18 anomaly". NASASpaceFlight.com. Retrieved December 9, 2025.
  5. ↑ "Critical Path" continues the ongoing Starship series, following SpaceX engineers through the final days before launch of the first Starship V3 and the challenges that come with development of the world’s most powerful and fully reusable rocket., SpaceX, 10 July 2026.
  6. 1 2 Weber, Ryan (November 28, 2025). "Booster 19 stacking begins as SpaceX pushes forward from B18 anomaly". NASASpaceFlight.com. Retrieved December 9, 2025.
  7. ↑ Bergin, Chris (September 9, 2025). "Eye on the future, as SpaceX prepare Pad 2 and Block 3 at Starbase". NASASpaceFlight.com. Archived from the original on September 9, 2025. Retrieved September 9, 2025.
  8. ↑ "COMPASS". compass.atfm.aero. Archived from the original on May 26, 2026. Retrieved May 2, 2026.
  9. ↑ Berger, Eric (November 21, 2025). "Newest Starship booster is significantly damaged during testing early Friday". Ars Technica. Archived from the original on February 11, 2026. Retrieved November 21, 2025.
  10. ↑ NASASpaceflight (November 20, 2025). SpaceX rolls The FIRST Starship Block 3 Booster 18 to Masseys. Archived from the original on November 22, 2025. Retrieved February 6, 2026 – via YouTube.
  11. ↑ Weber, Ryan (November 21, 2025). "Booster 18 suffers anomaly during proof testing". NASASpaceFlight.com. Archived from the original on January 6, 2026. Retrieved February 6, 2026.
  12. ↑ NASASpaceflight (January 30, 2026). SpaceX rolls Flight 12 Booster 19 to Masseys. Retrieved February 1, 2026 – via YouTube.
  13. ↑ NASASpaceflight (January 30, 2026). SpaceX rolls Flight 12 Booster 19 to Masseys. Retrieved February 1, 2026 – via YouTube.
  14. ↑ NASASpaceflight (February 3, 2026). Super Heavy Testing Begins! SpaceX Back on Track After B18 Disaster | Starship Update. Archived from the original on February 5, 2026. Retrieved February 4, 2026 – via YouTube.
  15. ↑ NASASpaceflight (March 8, 2026). SpaceX rolls Flight 12's Booster 19 to Pad 2. Archived from the original on April 11, 2026. Retrieved April 6, 2026 – via YouTube.
  16. ↑ @NASASpaceflight (March 8, 2026). "Translating to the Pad 2 mount. 10 engines is the count" (Tweet). Retrieved April 6, 2026 – via X (formerly Twitter).
  17. ↑ NASASpaceflight (March 10, 2026). SpaceX conducts Booster 19 testing on Pad 2. Retrieved April 6, 2026 – via YouTube.
  18. ↑ Golden, Zack [@CSI_Starbase] (March 15, 2026). "Very interesting 10 engine spin prime + igniter test from Booster 19 (27 second mark). This is the first time we have seen an igniter test performed with propellant loaded onto the vehicle. Usually these are done hours before testing. The audio from this is awesome @LabPadre" (Tweet). Retrieved April 6, 2026 – via X (formerly Twitter).
  19. ↑ NASASpaceflight (March 16, 2026). SpaceX Performs First Booster Static Fire on Pad 2. Retrieved April 6, 2026 – via YouTube.
  20. ↑ SpaceX [@SpaceX] (March 18, 2026). "Initial Super Heavy V3 and Starbase Pad 2 activation campaign complete, wrapping up several days of testing that loaded cryogenic fuel and oxidizer on a V3 vehicle for the first time. While the 10-engine static fire ended early due to a ground-side issue, we saw successful startup on all installed Raptor 3 engines. Next up: preparing the booster for a 33-engine static fire" (Tweet). Retrieved April 10, 2026 – via X (formerly Twitter).
  21. ↑ NASASpaceflight (March 17, 2026). SpaceX rolls back Booster 19 from Pad 2. Archived from the original on April 22, 2026. Retrieved April 10, 2026 – via YouTube.
  22. ↑ Priel, Elisar [@ENNEPS] (April 11, 2026). "SpaceX taking full advantage of the 2 for 1 rollout special today at Starbase rolling Starship Booster 19 back out to Launch Pad 2, this time we a full set of Raptor 3 Engines, for the next phase of pad and vehicle certification" (Tweet). Retrieved April 11, 2026 – via X (formerly Twitter).
  23. ↑ NASASpaceflight (April 11, 2026). SpaceX conducts preflight Booster 19 testing on Pad 2. Archived from the original on April 12, 2026. Retrieved April 12, 2026 – via YouTube.
  24. ↑ NASASpaceflight (April 9, 2025). After Static Fire, Booster 14 Rolls Back for More Launch Preps | SpaceX Boca Chica. Retrieved April 22, 2025 – via YouTube.
  25. ↑ NASASpaceflight (April 14, 2025). 🚨 Goodbye High Bay + Hello Pad B Flame Trench! | Starbase Update. Archived from the original on July 22, 2025. Retrieved April 22, 2025 – via YouTube.
  26. ↑ NASASpaceflight (August 18, 2025). Testing Complete - Starship Launches This Week! | Starbase Update. Event occurs at 22:00. Archived from the original on September 1, 2025. Retrieved August 19, 2025 – via YouTube.
  27. ↑ NASASpaceflight (November 16, 2025). "They're really tearing down that launch mount" | SpaceX Starbase. Event occurs at 10:53. Retrieved November 17, 2025 – via YouTube.
  28. ↑ NASASpaceflight (February 26, 2026). SpaceX rolls Flight 12 Ship 39 to Masseys. Retrieved February 26, 2026 – via YouTube.
  29. ↑ NASASpaceflight (March 1, 2026). Ship 39 survives its first test | SpaceX Starbase. Event occurs at 8:24. Archived from the original on March 1, 2026. Retrieved March 2, 2026 – via YouTube.
  30. ↑ NASASpaceflight (March 4, 2026). "The artist formerly known as Ship 39?" | SpaceX Starbase. Retrieved March 6, 2026 – via YouTube.
  31. ↑ NASASpaceflight (March 8, 2026). SpaceX rolls Flight 12's Booster 19 to Pad 2. Retrieved March 8, 2026 – via YouTube.
  32. ↑ NASASpaceflight (April 11, 2026). SpaceX rolls Ship 39 for engine testing. Archived from the original on April 11, 2026. Retrieved April 11, 2026 – via YouTube.
  33. ↑ @SpaceX (May 21, 2026). "The 90-minute test window opens at 5:30 p.m. CT with live coverage starting ~45 minutes before liftoff. Weather is 55% favorable for liftoff → spacex.com/launches/starship-flight-12" (Tweet). Retrieved May 22, 2026 – via X (formerly Twitter).
  34. ↑ Musk, Elon [@elonmusk] (May 21, 2026). "The hydraulic pin holding the tower arm in place did not retract. If that can be fixed tonight, there will be another launch attempt tomorrow at 5:30 CT" (Tweet). Retrieved May 21, 2026 – via X (formerly Twitter).
  35. ↑ @SpaceX (May 22, 2026). "Counting down to our second launch attempt, the 90-minute test window opens at 5:30 p.m. CT with live coverage starting ~30 minutes before liftoff. Weather is currently 85% favorable for flight → spacex.com/launches/starship-flight-12" (Tweet). Retrieved May 22, 2026 – via X (formerly Twitter).
  36. ↑ Clark, Stephen (September 9, 2025). "SpaceX's lesson from last Starship flight? "We need to seal the tiles."". Ars Technica. Archived from the original on April 17, 2026. Retrieved September 9, 2025.
  37. 1 2 3 4 "Starship's Twelfth Flight Test". SpaceX. May 12, 2026. Retrieved May 12, 2026.
  38. ↑ "Jonathan's Space Report - Latest Issue". planet4589.org. Archived from the original on April 6, 2026. Retrieved May 24, 2026.
  39. ↑ NASASpaceflight (May 22, 2026). SpaceX Starship Flight 12 - Launch & Landing - LAUNCH STREAM. Retrieved May 23, 2026 – via YouTube. T+19:40:1st pair and a pair every 50 seconds 'till T+28:00 = 22 dummy satellites.
  40. ↑ Leone, Anthony (May 27, 2026). "FAA grounds SpaceX's Starship after booster malfunction". mynews13.com. Retrieved May 28, 2026.
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