SpaceX launches upgraded Starship V3 successfully but loses Super Heavy booster on return

SpaceX successfully completed the first sub-orbital launch of its upgraded Starship V3 rocket system at 7:23pm Friday from the Boca Chica launch site in Texas. Equipped with 33 Raptor 3 engines on the Super Heavy first stage, plus an upgraded heat-shield on the upper stage, the system completed roughly 85 percent of its planned 65-minute mission profile after launch — but control was lost during the Super Heavy's catch manoeuvre over the Indian Ocean and the first stage was lost at sea.

The upper stage continued the mission, re-firing its engines and executing a controlled soft splashdown into the Indian Ocean 67 minutes after launch. This was the fourth Starship flight in which the upper stage successfully completed its descent — but the first such success for a V3 reaching the Indian Ocean. After the launch SpaceX CEO Elon Musk posted on X: 'Successful upper-stage completion validates Starship V3's primary systems. Super Heavy still needs work.'

The major technical setback — the loss of the Super Heavy first stage — happened within seven minutes of launch. After completing stage separation, the booster began an aggressive braking move dubbed the 'body flap manoeuvre'. SpaceX live-broadcast commentator Kate Tice said: 'As the booster's relighting engines began to fire, one outer engine showed an abnormal combustion pattern, so the manoeuvre fell below our target.' The booster then went into the ocean and was not recovered.

The Starship V3 includes major upgrades over the previous V2: Raptor 3 engines (about 12 percent more thrust than the V2's Raptor 2), a redesigned heat-shield (rated for up to 25 reusable flights) and payload capacity of 200 tonnes to low-Earth orbit (versus the V2's 150 tonnes). SpaceX has said that V3 is necessary for its Mars Program, the Lunar Gateway contract and the Starlink constellation.

For SpaceX's planned September 2026 initial public offering (IPO), a successful V3 flight was a key milestone. The company's S-1 filing notes that the V3 system is 'critical for the Mars Program' and flags that flight failure could weigh on the offering's pricing. Investment banks Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley are guiding the pre-IPO valuation at $500 billion; the 'mostly successful' characterisation of this Boca Chica launch should hold that valuation.

For aerospace industry analysts, the assessment of the launch is mixed. SpaceNews's Caleb Henry commented: 'The upper stage's successful arrival in the Indian Ocean confirms the function of Starship V3's primary systems. But reusability of the Super Heavy first stage is the foundation of the system's real economic advantage — that target has not yet been met.' SpaceX has said two backup units for the V3 first stage are ready; the target date for the second V3 launch is 15 September 2026.

The environmental and regulatory dimensions of the launch also drew significant attention. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) opened a post-launch investigation: a routine 30-day review will be conducted and the cause of the first-stage loss determined. The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) noted that 'a thermal anomaly was reported in fish on Boca Chica beach after the launch'; however this is a typical effect believed to be associated with Raptor 3 methane combustion and underground LNG vapour release. Environmental groups are challenging the Trump administration's February 2026 acceleration of Starship's environmental review; the FAA's 30-day review timeline is one step in environmental groups' favour.

For SpaceX's Lunar Gateway contract, the successful V3 upper-stage flight is critical. NASA's Artemis 3 lunar mission, planned for early 2027, includes the Starship V3 upper stage as the lunar landing vehicle. NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine said after the launch: 'Validation of the Starship V3 upper-stage function is good news for the Artemis 3 timeline. But booster reusability is necessary for the full mission; SpaceX needs to solve that problem.'

For the Starlink constellation, Starship V3 has the capacity to carry 60-80 next-generation Starlink satellites in one launch — a significant increase over the Falcon 9's current 22-23 satellites. SpaceX aims to expand the Starlink customer base from 8 million to 20 million by the end of 2027; V3 becoming operational is fundamental to that goal.

Locally in Boca Chica the launch was watched by a crowd of about 1,200. A local cafe owner on the beach, Maria Sanchez, told Reuters: 'The previous flight ended at 17 minutes and the first stage failed. This time it lasted 67 minutes and the upper stage made it — for Boca Chica's aviation tourism this is a gold mine.' SpaceX's operations in Boca Chica are estimated to have contributed $1.2 billion to the local economy over the past three years.

Following the flight, SpaceX set the timeline for the second V3 launch at 15 September. Until then the company will focus on first-stage reusability; main targets are revising the body-flap manoeuvre, stronger control algorithms in the context of Raptor 3 engine relight, and potentially additional backup engine units. SpaceX said that a successful full mission cycle for Starship V3 — launch, upper-stage orbital deployment, first-stage reuse — is expected to be reached in mid-2027.

*This article is not investment advice. Make investment decisions based on your own research or by consulting an investment adviser.*