SpaceX wraps action-packed Starship V2 era as program moves to V3

On Monday evening, SpaceX concluded the era of its Starship V2 with an impressive final test flight, marking a significant transition into the next phase of the program. The towering 400-foot rocket ascended from Starbase, Texas at 6:23 PM local time, successfully achieving all primary objectives during the mission. The Super Heavy booster, which had previously been utilized in a March test, executed a new landing-burn technique. It reignited 13 engines before scaling back to five, and finally three, ensuring a controlled splashdown in the Gulf of Mexico approximately seven minutes after liftoff. Meanwhile, the upper stage of Starship deployed eight mock Starlink satellite simulators, showcasing a new “dynamic banking maneuver” that will be critical for future return-to-pad operations at Starbase. Following its mission, the upper stage splashed down in the Indian Ocean. This flight not only marks the conclusion of the second-generation Starship and first-generation Super Heavy but also included valuable experiments with heat shield tiles on the upper stage, allowing engineers to gather crucial reentry data. The successful test flight reiterated previous milestones, such as the deployment of simulators and the relighting of one of Starship’s six Raptor engines in orbit. This test officially commenced the next program phase, which involves the upgraded prototype V3, designed for in-orbit docking and propellant transfer demonstrations—key features for missions targeting the Moon and Mars. SpaceX has stated that V3 will include structural enhancements and upgrades to the Raptor engine, aimed at boosting lifting capacity, although specific details were not disclosed. "This next iteration will be employed for initial Starship orbital flights, operational payload missions, and propellant transfer, as we work towards a fully reusable vehicle capable of servicing Earth orbit, the Moon, Mars, and beyond," the company explained. In addition to these advancements, SpaceX is enhancing Pad A at Starbase and shifting its launches to Pad B. Concurrently, the company is developing dual launch pads at Cape Canaveral and Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Starship is renowned as the most powerful rocket ever built and serves as a cornerstone for NASA's Artemis program as well as SpaceX's ambitions to deploy higher-capacity Starlink satellites. Acting NASA Administrator Sean Duffy praised the mission on social media, describing it as "another major step toward landing Americans on the Moon’s south pole." SpaceX has received over $4 billion to create a human-rated variant of Starship, named the Human Landing System, for the Artemis 3 crewed mission scheduled for 2027. Meeting this timeline will necessitate SpaceX demonstrating increasingly complex milestones, particularly in orbital docking and in-orbit propellant transfer.