SpaceX launches Starship test flight after prior scrub
A Tesla Cybertruck drives previous SpaceX services in Hawthorne, California, US, on Monday, April 13, 2026.
Ethan Swope | Bloomberg | Getty Images
SpaceX launched its large Starship rocket on Friday after a primary attempt was scrubbed as a consequence of technical points a day earlier.
A 90-minute launch window opened at 6:30 pm ET, and the flight took off at the moment from SpaceX’s facility in Starbase, Texas.
The test flight of Starship V3, with all its revised techniques, is a key occasion for SpaceX forward of a public market debut after the corporate publicly disclosed its IPO prospectus earlier this week. Musk’s aerospace and protection firm is anticipated to boost round $75 billion in an IPO subsequent month, after being valued at $1.25 billion in February, when it merged with xAI, Musk’s synthetic intelligence startup.
SpaceX mentioned in its IPO submitting 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 twelfth test flight for Starship.
The largest rocket ever constructed or flown, Starship can also be key to SpaceX’s potential to bolster its starlink wi-fi web service enterprise. The firm mentioned it plans to launch extra satellites into orbit so as to add to its constellation, and supply stronger wi-fi web to clients even in dense city areas.
Last 12 months, SpaceX launched over 3,000 satellites on 122 Falcon 9 rocket missions. The Starship can carry and launch extra satellites per journey than the smaller Falcon 9.
The system is comprised of the Starship higher stage automobile, Super Heavy booster and Raptor engines. The higher stage is supposed to be totally reusable and to hold each massive quantities of cargo and other people into area, and SpaceX plans to make use of it to land NASA astronauts again on the moon in 2028.
Friday’s test flight is SpaceX’s first for Starship in seven months, following a string of explosions and different setbacks in early 2025 that disrupted air travel as a consequence of falling particles. The firm is carrying mock Starlink satellites throughout the test flight however no astronauts and no buyer cost.
