SpaceX’s most powerful rocket ever launched in test, but booster fails and crashes

SpaceX’s Starship V3 rocket completed its first full test flight on May 22 from Starbase in South Texas, marking a major milestone for the company’s most powerful rocket ever. The 408-foot-tall vehicle lifted off at 6:30 p.m. EDT using 33 Super Heavy booster engines and six upper-stage Raptor engines, despite one booster engine failing to ignite at liftoff. The rocket successfully climbed and completed stage separation above the Gulf, though the Super Heavy booster crashed into the Gulf of Mexico after its engines failed to relight properly for landing. The upper-stage Starship continued its mission, deploying 20 dummy Starlink satellites and two operational camera-equipped satellites to record heat shield data during re-entry. It reached an altitude of nearly 121 miles before re-entering Earth’s atmosphere over the Indian Ocean and splashing down in the targeted zone, where it exploded on impact as planned. The mission lasted about one hour, testing new launch pad configurations and hot staging, where the upper stage ignited its engines before separation from the booster. The Starship V3 design introduced upgrades for easier maintenance and faster reuse, including a fixed structure around the booster’s top to support engine ignition and separation. Earlier, the launch was delayed by a hydraulic pin failure and ground system issues. Despite the booster’s crash, SpaceX called the test a success, with the upper stage meeting key objectives before its controlled splashdown. This was the first Starship launch since October, with the mission validating the stability of the newly completed second launch pad at Starbase. The test also demonstrated hot staging, a critical phase where the upper stage ignites engines before detaching from the booster, a process refined in the V3 design.