SpaceX’s Starship rocket test scores several firsts ahead of flight 12

By Trevor Mogg Published March 16, 2026

SpaceX chief Elon Musk said in February that the mighty Starship rocket would embark on its 12th test flight this month, although several more recent reports have suggested that it might not leave the launchpad until early April.

Preflight tests on the Starship rocket have been underway at SpaceX’s Starbase facility in southern Texas as the team works to ready the rocket for showtime.

In an important step toward launch day, the first-stage Super Heavy — the most powerful booster ever to fly — underwent a ground-based engine test, known as a static fire, on Monday.

NASASpaceflight, which has a number of cameras trained on the Starbase site, shared some footage of the test.

Monday’s test scored three firsts for SpaceX. It was the first time the new Pad 2 has been put to use in this way, the first such test for the new Starship Version 3, and the first time for the rocket’s new Raptor 3 engines to be fired up for this kind of procedure.

But the static fire ended after only a few seconds — much shorter than usual — suggesting there may have been an issue as the engines roared into life. SpaceX has yet to make any official comment on the outcome of the important preflight test.

The Starship flew most recently in October 2025. That means it’s been a long wait for the 12th flight of the massive rocket, especially considering that the more recent Starship launches have taken place within two or three months of each other.

The delay has been put down to the extra preparations needed for the new version of Starship.

Once fully ready, SpaceX’s newest and largest rocket will be used for crew and cargo flights to the moon as part of NASA’s Artemis program, and could even take the first humans to Mars.

First up, a modified version of the upper-stage Ship spacecraft will be used to return humans to the lunar surface as part of the Artemis IV mission, which is currently set for 2028.