What Starship Flight 12 Means for SpaceX’s IPO

Mostly successful debut of company’s largest rocket yet represents a key step toward grander ambitions.

Jack Daleo

Wednesday, May 27, 2026 at 09:00 AM ET

Verified

Edited By:

Travis Tingle

SpaceX’s Version 3 (V3) Starship launches on its debut suborbital test flight on Friday. [Credit: SpaceX]

Key Takeaways:

SpaceX's upgraded V3 Starship completed its 12th test flight, achieving its planned suborbital trajectory and deploying dummy satellites despite multiple engine failures on both the Super Heavy booster and Starship upper stage.
The mission successfully gathered critical data on the heat shield and structural strength during reentry, and demonstrated new in-space scanning and satellite deployment mechanisms.
The V3's introduction is a key step ahead of SpaceX's anticipated IPO, with the company aiming for orbital Starship missions by the second half of 2026.
Despite engine anomalies, the FAA did not require a mishap investigation, allowing SpaceX to continue progressing towards full reusability and its role in NASA's Artemis moon missions.

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Ahead of what observers anticipate will be the largest initial public offering (IPO) in history, SpaceX debuted its largest rocket yet on a mostly successful mission.

Though Starship and the Super Heavy booster—which combined stand more than 400 feet tall, nearly the length of a Boeing 777—suffered multiple engine failures, the ship achieved its planned suborbital trajectory and deployed a batch of dummy Starlink satellites. For the first time, two of these used cameras and sensors to scan Starship in space.