SpaceX launches Starship test flight after prior scrub
A Tesla Cybertruck drives past SpaceX facilities in Hawthorne, California, US, on Monday, April 13, 2026.
Ethan Swope | Bloomberg | Getty Images
SpaceX launched its massive Starship rocket on Friday after a first try was scrubbed due to technical issues a day earlier.
A 90-minute launch window opened at 6:30 p.m. ET, and the flight took off at that time from SpaceX’s facility in Starbase, Texas.
The test flight of Starship V3, with all its revised systems, is a key event for SpaceX ahead of a public market debut after the company publicly disclosed its IPO prospectus earlier this week. Musk’s aerospace and defense company is expected to raise around $75 billion in an IPO next month, after being valued at $1.25 billion in February, when it merged with xAI, Musk’s artificial intelligence startup.
SpaceX said in its IPO filing on Wednesday that Starship “is designed to deliver 100 metric tons to Earth’s orbit in a fully reusable configuration while enabling rapid turnaround times akin to commercial aviation.” It’s the 12th test flight for Starship.
The largest rocket ever built or flown, Starship is also key to SpaceX’s ability to bolster its Starlink wireless internet service business. The company said it plans to launch more satellites into orbit to add to its constellation, and provide stronger wireless internet to customers even in dense urban areas.
Last year, SpaceX launched over 3,000 satellites on 122 Falcon 9 rocket missions. The Starship can carry and release more satellites per trip than the smaller Falcon 9.
The system is comprised of the Starship upper stage vehicle, Super Heavy booster and Raptor engines. The upper stage is meant to be fully reusable and to carry both large amounts of cargo and people into space, and SpaceX plans to use it to land NASA astronauts back on the moon in 2028.
Friday’s test flight is SpaceX’s first for Starship in seven months, following a string of explosions and other setbacks in early 2025 that disrupted air travel due to falling debris. The company is carrying mock Starlink satellites during the test flight but no astronauts and no customer cargo.
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