First launch of a Block 3 Starship, and the first launch from Pad 2!
| Scheduled for (UTC) | 2026-05-22 23:30:00 |
|---|---|
| Scheduled for (local) | 2026-05-22 18:30 (CDT) |
| Launch Window (UTC) | 2025-05-22 22:30 to 2026-05-23 00:00 (1 hour 30 minutes) |
| Launch site | Pad 2, Starbase, Texas, USA. |
| Booster | B19 |
| Ship | S39 |
| Booster landing | Gulf of Mexico |
| Ship landing | Indian Ocean |
Webcasts
| Stream | Link |
|---|---|
| Space Affairs | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OT_ZXZUrUcU (scrub) |
| Everyday Astronaut | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=odWYDx3u8A4 (scrub) |
| Spaceflight Now | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U4alF1JasLo (scrub) |
| NASASpaceflight | Stakeout stream, launch stream, Stakeout stream (scrub), launch stream (scrub) |
| LabPadre | |
| The Launch Pad | Countdown stream, launch stream, Countdown stream (scrub), launch stream (scrub) |
| VideoFromSpace | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ke_V1Dlw_lI (scrub) |
| International Rocket Launches | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-C6WSj8lz4s (scrub) |
| SpaceX | |
| The Space Devs | https://www.youtube.com/@thespacedevs/videos |
Stats
Sourced from NextSpaceflight and r/SpaceX:
☑️ 1st launch of Starship version 3
☑️ 1st launch from Pad 2
☑️ 1st Starship Full Stack launch this year, 12th overall
☑️ 60th SpaceX launch this year, 679th overall
Mission Details
SpaceX website (current, archive), Starship v3 overview. Scheduled highlights:
- No booster catch, only splashdown.
- Payload deploy demonstration, including two satellites to transmit imagery of heatshield prior to reentry.
- Raptor relight.
- Ship landing burn will down-select to a single engine.
- Chopstick actuators have been changed from hydraulic to electromechanical.
Timeline
| Time | Event |
|---|---|
| -0:50:00 | GO for Prop Load |
| -0:38:53 | Stage 2 LOX Load |
| -0:35:00 | Stage 1 LOX Load |
| -0:34:43 | Stage 1 LNG Load |
| -0:32:59 | Stage 2 LNG Load |
| -0:21:30 | Engine Chill |
| -0:02:50 | Stage 1 Propellant Load Complete |
| -0:02:10 | Stage 2 Propellant Load Complete |
| -0:00:30 | GO for Launch |
| -0:00:17 | Flame Deflector Activation |
| -0:00:03 | Ignition |
| 0:00:00 | Liftoff |
| 0:00:00 | Excitement Guaranteed |
| 0:00:45 | Max-Q |
| 0:02:22 | MECO |
| 0:02:24 | Stage 2 Separation |
| 0:02:30 | Booster Boostback Burn Startup |
| 0:03:30 | Booster Boostback Burn Shutdown |
| 0:06:34 | Stage 1 Landing Burn |
| 0:06:59 | Stage 1 Landing |
| 0:08:11 | SECO-1 |
| 0:17:37 | Payload Deployment Sequence Start |
| 0:27:15 | Payload Deployment Sequence End |
| 0:38:37 | SEB-2 |
| 0:47:47 | Atmospheric Entry |
| 1:02:29 | Starship Transonic |
| 1:03:08 | Starship Subsonic |
| 1:05:06 | Starship Landing Burn |
| 1:05:08 | Landing Flip |
| 1:05:17 | Starship Landing |
Link to Starship Dev thread
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Nice ship landing despite everything else.
The engine out issues are giving me bad flashbacks.
Fortunately it was an R-vac and not one of the centre engines…
Scrub for the day.
Wow, those Raptor 3 engines are hauling ass!
Acronyms, initialisms, abbreviations, contractions, and other phrases which expand to something larger, that I’ve seen in this thread:
Fewer Letters More Letters FTS Flight Termination System MECO Main Engine Cut-Off ~ MainEngineCutOff podcast NSF NasaSpaceFlight forum ~ National Science Foundation Jargon Definition Raptor Methane-fueled rocket engine under development by SpaceX Starlink SpaceX’s world-wide satellite broadband constellation
[Thread #1 for this comm, first seen 22nd May 2026, 22:35] [FAQ] [Full list] [Contact] [Source code]
They’ve got video from the camera satellites!
Incomplete boostback burn on booster.
Ship FTS has safed. Awaiting callout for status of trajectory insertion.
Ship aft flaps are actuating. Ship attitude looks stable.
T-20 minutes. Propellant load is underway.
Seems like the landing burn failed to start. Booster was still travelling at 1454 km/h when it reached 0 km altitude.
Starting to see plasma now.
Holding at T-40 seconds.
Edit: Waiting for fuel pushback.
MECO and stage separation!
Ship R-vac shutdown at T+09:12, sea level engines shutdown at T+09:17.
Still on schedule for payload deploy (T+17:37), but likely skip in-space Raptor relight.
Hold released! Go for launch!