SpaceX Launches Massive Starship V3 Rocket
Tuesday, 2026/05/26172 words3 minutes883 reads
Elon Musk's SpaceX company launched the world's largest and most powerful rocket on Friday evening. The Starship V3 rocket lifted off from Texas at 17:30 local time, after a delay from Thursday due to technical problems with the launch tower.
The rocket had no crew on board. During its flight, it successfully deployed 20 dummy satellites into space. About one hour after launch, the spacecraft completed re-entry and splashed down in the Indian Ocean, where it exploded as planned. This was the 12th test flight of a SpaceX rocket.
Although both stages of the rocket experienced some engine failures, the mission achieved most of its major objectives. Elon Musk congratulated his team on social media, calling it "an epic first." NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman also praised the achievement, noting it brings missions to the Moon and Mars closer to reality.
The successful test comes at an important time for SpaceX, which plans to launch the largest stock market debut in Wall Street history next month. The company values itself at $1.25 trillion.
