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B19 photos by Amy Doehring

Today Ship 39, the first version.3 ship, conducted a full 60 second six engine static fire at the ship test stand at the Masseys test site. And photographer Ceaser G. of Nasaspaceflight.com just happened to be conducting a flyover when it happened and got this extraordinary shot:

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And this wasn't just the first static fire of a version.3 ship. It was also the first firing of version.3 raptor engines (the sleek, black, simple looking ones) integrated with a ship.

SpaceX photos

Today they conducted a full 33-engine static fire of Booster 19 on the new Pad 2.

Not only was this the first full-scale operational use of Pad 2, it was the first full 33-engine static fire of a dramatically redesigned version.3 booster armed with the brand new Raptor.3 engines.

Elon might be right that these engines are more powerful than the ones they replace. This static-fire was scary intense, very much a controlled explosion. But everything seems fine afterwards.

SpaceX photo

A bit of drama on the road between Brownsville and Starbase.

Texas State Troopers tried to stop a white car filled with people, got into a car chase, and eventually stopped it with a pit maneuver. The troopers arrested the driver, a Hispanic woman from the US side, her accomplice, an Anglo guy from Brownsville and two Mexican illegals. A third illegal got away. 145 pounds of marijuana were found in the car. The two illegals were turned over to the US Border Patrol and the two Americans were arrested on various human smuggling, drug and evading arrest charges.

Despite being inspiring and futuristic as all hell, this area is, literally, right on the Mexican border.

https://x.com/JessicaTetreau/status/2047148542809059836

SpaceX just released an extraordinary 24 minute documentary about Starship and Starbase. The rocket engine development site at McGregor gets some love too.

First hints of a Flight 12 launch date seem to be coming in. Some doubts remain about launching this soon, given that Booster 19 still hasn't completed its full duration static fire. (The reason the earlier attempt was aborted quickly was a problem with with the pad, not the rocket.) Ship 39 has completed its full duration static fire and seemingly is good to go. Time will tell, though don't be surprised if the date slips.

I'm guessing that SpaceX is feeling some heat from NASA though. SpaceX still needs to demonstrate orbital refueling and then test-land an uncrewed HLS Starship on the Moon in the next two years. So they clearly need to be hitting their milestones.



It appears that Flight 12 might be aiming for a more inclined trajectory than previous flights. Instead of passing between Florida and Cuba, Flight 12 will aim for the gap between Cuba and Yucatan. I'm guessing that SpaceX is switching to this route because it will give them a better trajectory when the ship is approaching from the west prior to a landing at Starbase on future flights.

Flight 12 will be a test flight for the new Version.3 ships and boosters, and they won't try to catch S39 which will land in the ocean off Australia like before. But there's anticipation that Flight 13 will come all the way around the Earth and try to reenter and soft land in the Gulf. If that works, they will try a tower catch of the ship as well as the booster on Flight 14.

(May 1, 2026 08:48 PM)Yazata Wrote: [ -> ][...] I'm guessing that SpaceX is feeling some heat from NASA though. SpaceX still needs to demonstrate orbital refueling and then test-land an uncrewed HLS Starship on the Moon in the next two years. So they clearly need to be hitting their milestones. [...]

It's certainly dragging along like heck, especially with regard to a future that dreams of launching them every day. You'd think it was still the nanny-activist Biden administration complaining about every micro-detail of possible harm. Get the foundation of the enterprise finally completed during the Trump era, or it never will be.

(May 1, 2026 09:59 PM)C C Wrote: [ -> ]

(May 1, 2026 08:48 PM)Yazata Wrote: [ -> ][...] I'm guessing that SpaceX is feeling some heat from NASA though. SpaceX still needs to demonstrate orbital refueling and then test-land an uncrewed HLS Starship on the Moon in the next two years. So they clearly need to be hitting their milestones. [...]

It's certainly dragging along like heck, especially with regard to a future that dreams of launching them every day. You'd think it was still the nanny-activist Biden administration complaining about every micro-detail of possible harm. Get the foundation of the enterprise finally completed during the Trump era, or it never will be.

I think that what looks like slow creeping progress the last few months has several explanations:

1. The earlier Starships were engineering prototypes, not finished designs. They were intended to gather as much data as possible, so (especially with the very first launch) they were throwing relatively crude versions at the sky. Now the version.3 ships and boosters are intended to be operational production vehicles, suitable for use in actual missions. They are intended to be more finished designs ready to be manufactured in quantity.

2. NASA is demanding lots more testing if Starship is ever to be human-rated. Even with Jared in charge, NASA isn't exactly a "space cowboy" kind of operation. (Though they kind of were back in the 1960's when they first put humans on the Moon.)

3. And inevitably, the Ship 36 explosion at Masseys put testing back for months because the facilities at Masseys are necessary for many tests. (The "can-crushers" for structural testing for example.)

According to the latest Coast Guard advisories, Flight 12 has been pushed back to Friday May 15 (from Tuesday May 12).