Starship V3 splashes down, but Super Heavy crashes and FAA grounds flights
Flight 12 proves the upper stage while the new booster flips and fails, investigation halts the program
Summary
SpaceX flew the first Starship/Super Heavy V3, Flight 12, from Starbase on 22 May 2026, the first launch from Pad 2 and the first with Raptor 3 engines. The upper stage performed: it deployed 20 dummy Starlink satellites plus two camera probes and splashed down on target in the Indian Ocean. The new Super Heavy booster did not: after separation it flipped unusually fast, most engines failed, and it crashed into the Gulf of Mexico at 1,450 km/h. On 27 May the FAA declared the booster failure a mishap and grounded Starship pending a SpaceX-led investigation. V3 is the version SpaceX needs for rapid reuse, Artemis lunar landings and Starlink Gen-2 deployment, so the booster regression matters more than the upper-stage win.
By the numbers
- 12, flight number; first of the V3 vehicle and Raptor 3.
- 20, dummy Starlink satellites deployed on the suborbital test.
- 1,450 km/h, speed at which the Super Heavy booster hit the Gulf.
- May 27, date FAA declared a mishap and grounded the program.
Why it matters
V3 is SpaceX's path to true reuse, to Starlink Gen-2 mass deployment and to the Artemis lunar lander. A booster regression plus an FAA grounding stalls the cadence that the whole US space-access advantage, and Golden Dome's launch assumptions, rests on.
What to watch
- Whether the mishap investigation finds a fixable cause or a V3 design issue.
- How long the FAA grounding holds, and the date of Flight 13.
- Whether Starlink Gen-2 deployment slips as a result.