The SpaceX Report: Starship V3 Debuts This Week as SpaceX Leans Into a Redesigned Launch Pad

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The SpaceX Report: Starship V3 Debuts This Week as SpaceX Leans Into a Redesigned Launch Pad

The SpaceX Report

Block 3 Starship Launches May 20, Featuring Hundreds of Refinements Across Both Stages

After seven months away from the launch pad, Starship is set to return on Wednesday, May 20, with a dramatically evolved vehicle. Flight 12 will mark the debut of Starship V3 and its Block 3 upper stage—a comprehensive redesign that incorporates years of flight data and ground testing. The mission is targeted for 5:30 p.m. CDT from Starbase, and while it remains a suborbital test, every system aboard represents a step forward in SpaceX’s push toward full and rapid reusability.

The SpaceX Report: Starship V3 Debuts This Week as SpaceX Leans Into a Redesigned Launch Pad

The Super Heavy booster has been reimagined from bottom to top. The grid fins have dropped from four to three, but each is now 50 per cent larger and significantly stronger, repositioned lower on the vehicle to shield them from Starship’s hot-staging exhaust. The fuel transfer tube—the artery that channels cryogenic propellant to all 33 Raptor engines—has been completely redesigned and is now roughly the size of a Falcon 9 first stage. This enables simultaneous startup of all engines and more reliable flip maneuvers. SpaceX replaced the single quick disconnect with two physically separated connection points, one for methane and one for liquid oxygen, improving redundancy and simplifying pad hardware. The aft end now features an integrated hot stage, which means the booster’s forward fuel tank dome will be directly exposed to the upper stage’s engines upon ignition. A non-structural steel layer, working in concert with tank pressure, protects it during the burn.

Raptor 3 engines deliver increased thrust across the board. Sea-level variants now produce 250 tf (551,000 lbf), up from 230 tf (507,000 lbf), while vacuum engines produce 275 tf (606,000 lbf), up from 258 tf (568,000 lbf). Individual engine shrouds have been eliminated; sensors and controllers are now internally integrated and covered by thermal protection. Mass of the Raptor sea-level engines has been reduced to 1,525 kg from 1,630 kg, with overall vehicle-level mass savings reaching approximately 1 ton per engine through simplification of the engine itself, vehicle-side commodities, and supporting hardware.

Raptor 3 engine, showing internal integration of sensors and controllers

Ship 39, the first Block 3 upper stage, carries equally significant upgrades. Propellant tank volume has increased—the common and aft domes have been lowered by approximately 1.106 metres—without raising vehicle height. The payload bay now features four passive probe-and-drogue docking ports for future ship-to-ship refuelling, as well as vents to depressurise the bay before opening the doors in space. The reaction control system has been completely redesigned with refined thruster placement and additional thrusters to support docking and orbital maneuvers. Avionics have been upgraded to support 48-hour missions in space, and battery life has been improved. The Starlink PEZ Dispenser mechanism has been enhanced with new actuators and inverters, increasing deployment speed for each satellite.

Ship 39 nose cone showing new catch/lift points and repositioned Starlink dishes

Flight 12 will carry 22 simulator Starlink satellites—double the previous mission’s deployment. Two of them feature new heat shield imaging capability; they will scan Ship 39’s thermal protection during entry and transmit the data to operators in real time. Engineers have intentionally removed one heat shield tile to measure aerodynamic loads on adjacent tiles, simulating potential damage and gathering data for future return-to-launch-site operations. The booster will perform a controlled splashdown in the Gulf of Mexico about seven minutes after liftoff, whilst Ship 39 aims for the Indian Ocean more than an hour into the mission.

The seven-month gap since the last Starship test reflects a difficult 2025. Three consecutive flights in the first half of the year lost control during ascent, with the third (in May) destroying both stages. After regrouping, SpaceX completed two largely successful V2 flights late in the year but encountered setbacks even then, including a November pressure-test explosion that destroyed another V3 booster. The return to flight carries weight for the entire sector.

Pad 2 Represents a Ground-Up Reimagining of Starship Launch Infrastructure

Flight 12 is also the maiden flight of Pad 2, a completely redesigned launch complex that SpaceX built from the ground up with lessons learned from Pad 1 and other facilities. Every major subsystem—flame trench, launch mount, water deluge, tower, and tank farm—has been reconceived for robustness and reusability.

Ship 39 and Booster 19 stacked on Pad 2, showing the new launch infrastructure

The flame trench no longer features the six exhaust exits between the booster’s legs; instead, a new two-exit design routes exhaust through a split flame deflector comprising perforated pipes welded in a pattern calculated to direct the plume safely. A ridge cap sits atop the deflector with holes drilled to spray high-pressure water and suppress the exhaust. The entire flame trench is coated in stainless steel or painted steel, protecting the underlying structure and simplifying repairs—only plates need to be replaced rather than concrete sections refinished, as was necessary on older pads.

The launch mount itself is a complete redesign. Hold-down arms are thicker to handle heavier stacks. A new clamp-and-ball-socket alignment system eliminates stabiliser pins. All critical propellant, hydraulic, pneumatic, and electrical hardware has been moved into a service structure bunker to the side, protecting it from exhaust during liftoff. The booster quick disconnects have been split into separate LOX and methane systems and relocated to the opposite side of the tower, keeping propellant lines farther from the plume. The launch deck itself is a water-cooled plate, like Pad 1’s, shielding the mount from thermal stress.

Water deluge farm at Pad 2, showing the new gas generator system for pressurisation

The water deluge system is a departure from traditional high-pressure gas tanks. Pad 2 uses gas generators that burn a mixture of oxygen and methane to convert liquid nitrogen into pressurised gas, which then forces water to the flame deflector, ridge cap, and launch deck at the required pressure to counteract the exhaust plume. Three separate systems—one for each component—run independently.

The launch tower houses shorter chopsticks than Pad 1’s original design; two full truss sections have been removed. These electromechanical arms (switching from hydraulic) offer faster motion, greater redundancy, and better reliability. The tower roof is now clad to protect the interior during ship catches, shielding the chopstick cables from Raptor exhaust. The ship quick-disconnect arm has been strengthened and repackaged to rotate farther away from the vehicle during launch.

The tank farm has adopted fully modular pump and valve skids across all of SpaceX’s launch facilities. Propellant delivery capability has doubled: liquid oxygen booster pumps increased from four to five, with subcooling capacity up 75 per cent; ship LOX pumps went from one to four, with subcooling up 300 per cent. Methane booster pumps rose from three to four, subcooling up 100 per cent; ship methane pumps went from one to four, subcooling up 300 per cent. Supply pipe radius has doubled. These upgrades have cut combined booster and ship loading time from 49 minutes to 38 minutes.

Pad 2 tower and electromechanical chopsticks, showing the shorter, faster catch arms

Falcon 9 Continues Its Winning Streak with CRS-34 and NROL-172

Whilst Starship prepares for its next test, Falcon 9 has notched two more successful missions. On Friday, May 15, SpaceX launched Cargo Dragon C209 atop Falcon 9 booster B1096 from Cape Canaveral, carrying approximately 6,500 pounds of supplies and experiments to the International Space Station. The mission, CRS-34, lifted off at 6:05 p.m. EDT and executed a flawless flight, with the booster landing at Landing Zone 40 and Dragon separating on schedule. Dragon docked with the station’s Harmony module on Sunday, May 17, bringing research payloads including a microgravity simulator, a bone scaffold that could unlock treatments for osteoporosis, and instruments to study charged particles around Earth and planetary formation. This marked the sixth flight for Dragon C209 and the sixth flight for booster B1096.

Three days earlier, on Tuesday, May 12, SpaceX launched the NROL-172 intelligence-gathering mission for the National Reconnaissance Office from Vandenberg Space Force Base. Booster B1097 achieved its ninth flight and successfully landed on the drone ship Of Course I Still Love You in the Pacific Ocean, marking the 610th total booster landing for SpaceX since 2015. NROL-172 deployed reconnaissance satellites belonging to the NRO’s proliferated architecture constellation, which now includes electro-optical, radar, and relay satellites capable of inter-satellite optical communications and contributing to the Department of War’s emerging space-data network.

CRS-34 Science Arrives as Starlink Ambitions Expand

The experiments aboard CRS-34 reflect the breadth of research enabled by routine cargo access to microgravity. NASA’s microgravity simulator project aims to determine how accurately Earth-based facilities can replicate the conditions at the station. The bone scaffold investigation seeks to develop therapies for fragile bone conditions; a wood-based material is being tested to see whether it can guide cellular growth in ways that solid bone cannot. Researchers will also study how red blood cells and the spleen respond to microgravity, potentially revealing why astronauts experience physiological changes in space. An instrument called CLARREO Pathfinder will take highly accurate measurements of sunlight reflected by Earth and the Moon, improving climate models and solar physics understanding.

Dragon will remain at the station until mid-June, returning to Earth with time-sensitive research and cargo before splashing down off the California coast. The return of CRS missions, combined with sustained Falcon 9 operations at high cadence, underscores the stability of SpaceX’s flagship launch platform—even as the company pivots resources toward Starship’s maturation. Falcon 9 launched 165 times in 2025 and continues to set the standard for reliability and reuse in the Western launch sector, a foundation SpaceX is deliberately preserving while it works to make Starship operational.

Citations

Falcon Heavy

Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope


Provider: SpaceX
Date: August 31, 2026
Time: 12:00 AM UTC
Vehicle: Falcon Heavy

The Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope is a NASA infrared space telescope with a 2.4 m (7.9 ft) wide field of view primary mirror and two scientific instruments. The Wide-Field Instrument (WFI) is a 300.8-megapixel multi-band visible and near-infrared camera, providing a sharpness of images comparable to that achieved by the Hubble Space Telescope over a 0.28 square degree field of view, 100 times larger than imaging cameras on the Hubble. The Coronagraphic Instrument (CGI) is a high-contrast, small field of view camera and spectrometer covering visible and near-infrared wavelengths using novel starlight-suppression technology. Roman objectives include a search for extra-solar planets using gravitational microlensing, and probing the expansion history of the Universe and the growth of cosmic structure, with the goal of measuring the effects of dark energy, the consistency of general relativity, and the curvature of spacetime.

Falcon Heavy

Griffin Mission One


Provider: SpaceX
Date: December 31, 2026
Time: 12:00 AM UTC
Vehicle: Falcon Heavy

Demonstration flight of the Astrobotic Griffin lander and its engines, initially contracted for the cancelled NASA VIPER (Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover) mission. The vacated payload spot will now host the FLIP (FLEX Lunar Innovation Platform) lunar rover from Astrolab.

Falcon Heavy

USSF-75


Provider: SpaceX
Date: December 31, 2026
Time: 12:00 AM UTC
Vehicle: Falcon Heavy

Classified payload for the United States Space Force

Falcon Heavy

NROL-86


Provider: SpaceX
Date: June 30, 2027
Time: 12:00 AM UTC
Vehicle: Falcon Heavy

Classified payload for the US National Reconnaissance Office

Falcon Heavy

USSF-155


Provider: SpaceX
Date: June 30, 2027
Time: 12:00 AM UTC
Vehicle: Falcon Heavy

Classified payload for the US Space Force.

Robo Chris
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Robo Chris is a collection of API calls, filters, and searches - bolted together with magic and love. He preforms instructed information gathering, and does a fair bit of writing too. Everything he creates gets submitted to our editor-in-chief, actual Chris, for approval and publication!

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