SpaceX scrubbed the first V3 launch attempt on May 21 when a hydraulic pin on the launch tower arm failed to retract at T-40 seconds. The company repaired the fault overnight and rescheduled the debut of Booster 19 and Ship 39 for May 22 from Starbase Pad 2.
Two days before the window opened, SpaceX filed an S-1 with the SEC. The prospectus shows $18.7 billion in 2025 revenue, a $4.9 billion net loss, and more than $15 billion spent building Starship. SpaceX plans to open its IPO roadshow June 8 and price shares on Nasdaq around June 12 at a valuation of roughly $1.8 trillion.
Why it matters
Starship is the rocket NASA is counting on to return Americans to the Moon, and it just got bigger weeks before SpaceX goes public.
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May 2026
Starship V3 lifts off on Flight 12
LatestTest Flight
SpaceX launched the first V3 vehicle from Starbase Pad 2. The mission plan included deploying 20 Starlink simulators, relighting a Raptor in space, and splashing the booster down in the Gulf of Mexico.
Flight 12 countdown scrubbed at T-40 seconds
Scrub
A hydraulic pin on the Starbase launch tower arm failed to retract during the final countdown. Elon Musk confirmed the issue on X and said the repair would allow a second attempt the following evening.
SpaceX names Chun Wang commander of first private Starship Mars flyby
Announcement
During the Flight 12 webcast, SpaceX announced that Chun Wang—co-founder of Bitcoin mining pool F2Pool and commander of the 2025 Fram2 Crew Dragon mission—will lead the first private crewed Starship flight to Mars, a two-year flyby with no landing. No launch date was given.
SpaceX prospectus reportedly readied for filing
Financial
Bloomberg and NPR reported preparations for SpaceX's $75 billion IPO, targeting a June 12 Nasdaq listing.
SpaceX files S-1 with SEC, first public look at company finances
Financial
SpaceX registered with the SEC under proposed ticker SPCX, disclosing $18.7 billion in 2025 revenue, a $4.9 billion net loss, and more than $15 billion in cumulative Starship development spending. The filing targets a $75 billion raise at roughly $1.8 trillion valuation, with roadshow starting June 8.
First Starship V3 fully stacked at Pad 2
Pre-launch
SpaceX completed a second wet dress rehearsal with Booster 19 and Ship 39 on Starbase's new second launch pad.
Starbase construction worker dies in fall; OSHA investigation opened
Safety
Jose Luis Bautista, 25, fell eight feet from scaffolding at the Starbase facility and died of blunt-force trauma. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration opened a formal investigation; results are expected to take months.
February 2026
NASA names Artemis 4 as first crewed Moon landing
Policy
Administrator Jared Isaacman moves the crewed landing from Artemis 3 to Artemis 4 in 2028, with Artemis 3 demoted to a lander test.
March 2025
Flight 8 upper stage breaks up over Florida
Failure
The Ship lost engines and attitude control after staging, scattering debris and triggering an FAA investigation.
October 2024
SpaceX catches Super Heavy booster on the tower
Milestone
Flight 5 ended with Mechazilla catching the returning Super Heavy. The Ship landed on target in the Indian Ocean.
June 2024
Flight 4 ends with first soft splashdown
Test Flight
Booster 11 completed its profile and Ship survived reentry, performing a controlled splashdown in the Indian Ocean.
November 2023
Flight 2 demonstrates hot staging
Test Flight
All 33 booster engines fired through ascent and hot staging worked, but both stages were lost before reaching orbit.
April 2023
Flight 1 clears the pad, then breaks up
Test Flight
The first integrated Starship test reached 40 km before losing engines and self-destructing. The launch mount was destroyed.
Historical Context
3 moments from history that rhyme with this story — and how they unfolded.
1 of 3
November 1967
Saturn V's first flight (November 1967)
NASA flew the 363-foot Saturn V uncrewed on Apollo 4, producing 7.6 million pounds of thrust. The all-up test approach put a working third stage and command module on the first launch, against the advice of many engineers.
Then
The flight worked. NASA cleared Saturn V for crewed flight in under a year.
Now
Saturn V flew 13 times without losing a crew and landed astronauts on the Moon six times. The rocket retired in 1973 with no failures.
Why this matters now
Saturn V is the closest historical analog for what Starship V3 is trying to do: a fully integrated heavy-lift vehicle tested against a Moon-landing deadline. Starship's fail-and-fly approach is the philosophical opposite of Saturn V's all-up perfection.
2 of 3
February 2018
Falcon Heavy demonstration (February 2018)
SpaceX flew Falcon Heavy for the first time, sending Elon Musk's Tesla Roadster toward Mars orbit. Two side boosters landed back at Cape Canaveral simultaneously; the center core missed its drone ship.
Then
Falcon Heavy won U.S. Space Force and commercial contracts within months.
Now
The rocket has flown more than a dozen times with no losses and remains the second-most-powerful operational launcher. It validated SpaceX's iterative test approach to federal customers.
Why this matters now
Falcon Heavy showed that SpaceX could move from one rocket to a heavy-lift architecture in a single test campaign. Starship is the same playbook scaled by roughly a factor of three in thrust.
3 of 3
January 1986
Space Shuttle Challenger (January 1986)
Challenger broke apart 73 seconds after launch, killing seven astronauts. An O-ring in a solid rocket booster failed in cold weather, after engineers had warned of the risk the night before.
Then
NASA grounded the Shuttle for 32 months. Schedule pressure and risk acceptance came under congressional scrutiny.
Now
The Shuttle never flew its planned cadence again and retired in 2011. The U.S. lost crewed launch capability until SpaceX's Crew Dragon flew in 2020.
Why this matters now
Challenger is the warning attached to any program that mixes commercial pressure, government schedule commitments, and aggressive flight cadence. Starship will eventually carry humans for NASA, and the IPO timeline adds a financial driver that did not exist for Shuttle.
