The delayed first test of SpaceX’s improved Starship rocket is scheduled for mid-March, according to a post on social media site X from CEO Elon Musk.
This third version of Starship, or V3, is bigger and more powerful. Importantly, the company plans to use Starship V3 to launch its next generation Starlink satellites. This is capable of faster data speeds, but is heavier and larger. This is also the first version of the rocket intended to dock with other spacecraft in Earth orbit, a feature the company needs to reach the Moon and Mars.
This all comes as SpaceX races toward an IPO later this year and comes under pressure from the Trump administration to return U.S. astronauts to the moon before the end of his second term. Starship is the most powerful rocket ever developed and is now a key part of NASA’s mission to achieve that goal.
SpaceX was on track to launch Starship V3 at the end of 2025. But in November, during a test, a booster stage exploded, blowing off the entire side of the steel rocket. The company said it was conducting a “pressure test of the gas system” at the time of the explosion, but has not yet provided a more detailed breakdown of what went wrong.
The company wants to move on from the controversial second version of Starship. Starship V2 successfully reached orbit, deployed a dummy version of the next-generation Starlink satellite, and was able to capture multiple booster stages after returning to the launch pad.
However, Starship V2 also experienced many explosions and setbacks of its own. Some of them came about as a result of SpaceX’s development approach. This involves testing test vehicles to and beyond their limits and then iterating based on what the company learns. Other, more unexpected incidents have occurred, such as when one of the Starship vehicles on top of the booster stage exploded a massive fireball during ground testing last June.
SpaceX has come to dominate the global launch market over the past decade and relies on Starship to maintain its dominance. But competition is creeping around every corner. Jeff Bezos’ space company Blue Origin launched its first giant rocket, known as New Glenn, for the first time in January 2025 and again in November. On its second flight, the company launched its first commercial payload for NASA and also completed the first landing of its booster stage.
Blue Origin is planning a third New Glenn launch in late February, after which it hopes to send its own lunar module to the moon. Although New Glenn is smaller than Starship, Blue Origin revealed late last year that it was developing a larger version of the vehicle that would compete more directly with SpaceX’s superheavy rocket.
