Starship Flight 12

First test flight of version 3 of Starship, with both the Starship spacecraft and Super Heavy booster receiving significant modifications. The booster’s primary test objective will be executing a successful launch, ascent, stage separation, boostback burn, and landing burn at an offshore landing point in the Gulf. As this is the first flight test of a significantly redesigned vehicle, the booster will not attempt a return to the launch site for catch. The Starship upper stage will target multiple in-space and reentry objectives, including the deployment of 22 Starlink simulators, similar in size to next-generation Starlink satellites. Several tiles on Starship have been painted white to simulate missing tiles and serve as imaging targets in the test. The Starlink simulators will be on the same suborbital trajectory as Starship. A relight of a single Raptor engine while in space is also planned.

Ship 39 will deploy 22 Starlink simulators, similar in size to next-generation Starlink satellites, into the same suborbital trajectory as the Ship itself. The last two satellites deployed will scan Starship’s heat shield and transmit imagery down to operators to test methods of analyzing Starship’s heat shield readiness for return to launch site on future missions.