SpaceX Announces Launch Date For New Starship Megarocket

InnovationScienceSpaceX Announces Launch Date For New Starship MegarocketByJamie Carter,Senior Contributor.Forbes contributors publish independent expert analyses and insights. An award-winning reporter writing about stargazing and the night sky.Follow AuthorMay 13, 2026, 07:47am EDT--:-- / --:--This voice experience is generated by AI. Learn more.This voice experience is generated by AI. Learn more.Visitors look at the SpaceX Starship as it sits on a launch pad at Starbase near Boca Chica, Texas, on October 12, 2024, ahead of the Starship Flight 5 test. (Photo by SERGIO FLORES/AFP via Getty Images)AFP via Getty ImagesElon Musk’s SpaceX has announced that the latest test of its Starship megarocket is being targeted for Tuesday, May 19.Per a post on X, it will be Starship’s twelfth flight test, but the first for both Starship — the upper-stage designed for cargo and crew — and the all-important first-stage booster called Super Heavy. The latter will use the next evolution of the Raptor engine, of which 33 are used to launch the vehicle.Starship and Super Heavy will launch from a newly designed pad at Starbase, SpaceX’s private rocket launch facility close to the U.S.-Mexico border near Boca Chica Beach in southern Texas.When Will Space Starship Launch?The launch window opens at 6:30 p.m. EDT (local time 5:30 p.m. CDT) on Tuesday, May 19. That doesn’t mean the launch will happen at that exact time — if previous test flights are anything to go by, expect delays.The launch will be streamed live on SpaceX.com, YouTube and X (Twitter) from about 30 minutes before the launch. “As is the case with all developmental testing, the schedule is dynamic and likely to change,” reads a statement from SpaceX.The entire test flight is set to take 65 minutes. Visitors look at the SpaceX Starship as it sits on a launch pad at Starbase near Boca Chica, Texas, on October 12, 2024, ahead of the Starship Flight 5 test. (Photo by SERGIO FLORES/AFP via Getty Images)AFP via Getty ImagesMORE F...