SpaceX launched the new, largest, and most powerful Starship V3 rocket for its first test flight, while NASA watches closely as it plans to use the vehicle for returning humans to the Moon under the Artemis program.
On 23 May 2026, SpaceX, led by Elon Musk, launched the upgraded Starship V3 from the Starbase launch site in southern Texas near the Mexico border. This was the 12th test flight of the giant rocket project aimed at enabling human missions to Mars in the future. The launch came just two days after Musk announced plans to list SpaceX on the stock market. The new Starship carried 20 mock Starlink satellites to be released during the test mission.
The V3 rocket stands 124 meters tall, taller than previous versions, with increased thrust power. It features upgraded control and navigation systems, larger control fins, a stronger fuel delivery system, and additional cameras and computers to support future spacecraft docking missions.
SpaceX aims for Starship to be fully reusable, using giant robotic arms at the launch site to catch the rocket upon return. However, this test mission has no plans for part recovery; the booster will fall into the Gulf of Mexico, while the spacecraft itself will end its mission over the Indian Ocean.
NASA is closely monitoring Starship’s progress because it plans to use the vehicle as a lunar lander for the Artemis program, which aims to return humans to the Moon for the first time since the Apollo era. NASA has provided billions of dollars in funding to SpaceX and Jeff Bezos’s Blue Origin to compete in developing lunar landers. Currently, Starship has made multiple flights to near space, though some ended with mid-air explosions. Blue Origin’s Blue Moon vehicle has yet to fly but plans a lunar test mission within this year.
Source: AP