SpaceX launched Starship V3 three weeks before its IPO. The booster exploded.

This article was published on May 23, 2026 SpaceX’s Starship V3 deployed mock satellites but lost the Super Heavy booster to an explosion. The $75B IPO is three weeks away. SpaceX launched the 12th test flight of its Starship rocket on Friday evening from Starbase, Texas, marking the debut of the upgraded Version 3 vehicle. The flight successfully deployed 20 mock Starlink satellites and beamed live video from space, but the Super Heavy booster was destroyed after separation, failing to achieve a controlled descent. The test came three weeks before SpaceX is expected to raise approximately $75 billion in what would be the largest IPO in history. The 90-minute launch window opened at 6:30 p.m. ET after a scrub the previous day caused by a hydraulic pin on the launch tower that failed to retract. Starship V3 lifted off from a new launch pad at Starbase, powered by 33 Raptor engines generating 18 million pounds of thrust. The vehicle stands 408 feet tall when fully stacked and is the largest rocket ever built or flown. The flight proceeded nominally through ascent and stage separation, but anomalies emerged almost immediately after the Super Heavy booster detached. During an engine re