The first test of SpaceX’s upgraded Starship rocket is now slated for mid-March, according to a post from CEO Elon Musk on his social media site X.
This third version of Starship, or V3, is larger and more powerful. Crucially, the company plans to use Starship V3 to launch its next-generation Starlink satellites, which will be capable of faster data speeds but are also heavier and larger. It is also the first version of the rocket designed to dock with other Starships in Earth orbit, a capability the company needs to reach the moon or Mars.
This development comes as SpaceX is racing toward an IPO later this year and faces pressure from the Trump administration to return U.S. astronauts to the surface of the moon before the end of a potential second term. Starship, the most powerful rocket ever developed, is a key part of NASA’s mission to fulfill that goal.
SpaceX was making progress toward a launch of Starship V3 in late 2025. However, in November, the booster stage suffered an explosion during testing that blew out an entire side of the steel rocket. The company stated it was performing gas system pressure testing when the explosion happened but has yet to offer a detailed breakdown of the failure.
The company has been hoping to move on from the second version of Starship, which delivered mixed results. SpaceX successfully reached orbit with Starship V2, deployed dummy versions of the next-generation Starlink satellites, and caught multiple booster stages after they returned to the launchpad. But Starship V2 also suffered a number of explosions and setbacks. Some resulted from SpaceX’s developmental approach, which involves pushing test vehicles to their limit and iterating based on the findings. Others were more unexpected, like when one of the Starship vehicles erupted in a massive fireball during ground testing last June.
SpaceX has come to dominate the global launch market over the last decade and is relying on Starship to maintain that dominance. However, competition is increasing. Jeff Bezos’ space company Blue Origin launched its first mega-rocket, New Glenn, for the first time in January 2025 and again in November. The company launched its inaugural commercial payload for NASA on that second flight and completed the first landing of its booster stage.
Blue Origin is planning a third launch of New Glenn in late February and hopes to send its own lunar lander to the moon sometime after that. While New Glenn is smaller than Starship, Blue Origin revealed late last year that it is developing a larger version of the vehicle that more directly competes with SpaceX’s super-heavy rocket.