Liftoff Videos

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Starship Flight 12

Low Earth orbit

Starship Flight 12 was the first flight of the Starship version 3 vehicle, Booster 19 and Ship 39, from the new Pad 2 at Starbase, on 22 May 2026. The ship lost one vacuum engine on ascent but reached space and deployed its payloads, and the booster shut down early on its boostback burn.

What happened

  1. Static fire

    Problems before the launch

    SpaceX's documentary shows a static fire aborted by flame diverter sensors, and a chopstick roller chain that broke after the static fire.

    Watch this moment · 3:35

  2. First launch attempt

    Scrub for the arm

    The first attempt held when the unpinning of the ship quick-disconnect arm tripped hydraulic bounds. SpaceX added a hard stop bumper.

    Watch this moment · 25:00

  3. Liftoff

    Booster 19 and Ship 39

    The first V3 vehicle lifted off from Pad 2, followed by hot staging.

    Watch this moment · 58:32

  4. After hot staging

    The boostback shuts down early

    The booster's boostback burn shut down early.

    Watch this moment · 1:01:30

  5. Ship ascent

    One engine out

    The ship reached space on five engines, having lost one vacuum Raptor, and began deploying its payloads.

    Watch this moment · 1:08:55

  6. Later

    The ship reports landed

    In the documentary the flight ends with the ship reporting that it had landed.

    Watch this moment · 32:44
Play video: Starship V3 Flight 12: Pad 2, Raptor 3, Booster 19 and Ship 39, 16:07

Photo: Steve Jurvetson from Los Altos, USA / CC BY 2.0

Key facts
VehicleStarship, Super Heavy
Mission nameStarship Flight 12
Launch siteStarbase, South Texas
Crew size0
OutcomePartial success

Videos about this mission

The videos, in date order

Drag, zoom or press play to watch them on this page.

  1. Starship V3 Flight 12: Pad 2, Raptor 3, Booster 19 and Ship 39

    Everyday Astronaut

  2. Starship Flight 12: Countdown to the First V3 Launch from Pad 2

    Everyday Astronaut

  3. Starship Flight 12: First V3 Launch, Booster Loss and Engine Out

    Everyday Astronaut

  4. Starship Flight 12: Inside the Final Days Before the First V3

    SpaceX
Play video: Starship Flight 12: Inside the Final Days Before the First V3

Starship Flight 12: Inside the Final Days Before the First V3

SpaceX

Duration 34:16

Watch video

Dates are when each video was first published on YouTube.

The V3 changes

Video 270 covers what is new: Pad 2, Raptor 3, Super Heavy V3 and Starship V3, and the planned suborbital profile with earlier max Q and stage separation and cameras on dummy Starlink satellites. Video 268 reports that the ship deployed 22 payloads.

Questions and answers

  1. When was Starship Flight 12?

    On 22 May 2026, from Pad 2 at Starbase.

  2. What is V3?

    The third version of Starship and Super Heavy, with Raptor 3 engines.

  3. What went wrong?

    The ship lost a vacuum engine on ascent, and the booster's boostback burn shut down early.

  4. Why was it a partial success?

    The ship reached space and deployed its payloads, but not everything on the flight worked.

Sources: The facts and written text on this page come from the 4 videos on this page, by Everyday Astronaut, SpaceX.

Related missions

Same program: Starship

Same vehicle: Starship

Same destination: Low Earth orbit