Next Starship/Superheavy launch in March?
According to this detailed update on SpaceX’s work at Boca Chica by NASASpaceflight.com, we should expect the next orbital test flight of Starship/Superheavy some time in March 2026.
As far as the launch date for this first flight of Block 3, sources point to March as the most likely viable timeframe. This launch will mark numerous firsts, from the vehicle, its Raptor 3 engines, and the first use of the upgraded Pad 2 architecture that will be mirrored at Pad 1, along with 39A and SLC-37 on the East Coast.
Block 3 refers to a major upgrade in Starship, which will fly prototype #39. Meanwhile, work getting Superheavy prototype #19 prepped has moved fast, following the loss of #18 from an explosion during ground fueling tests.
Recent observations show significant milestones: after welding the liquid oxygen (LOX) tank to the engine section (including pre-installed landing tanks and transfer tube), teams added methane tank barrels and the forward dome with its integrated hot staging ring. By December 20, all barrel sections were delivered and stacked, achieving this in just 25 days from November 25 — half the 42 days required for Booster 17, the final Version 1 booster.
The report also said that a February launch is a possibility, but is less likely.
Meanwhile, news outlets are reporting that the Trump administration is considering giving SpaceX about 775 acres in a wildlife preserve adjacent to Starbase in exchange for 692 acres SpaceX owns elsewhere. If confirmed, this deal would be similar to the land swap Texas had wished to do with SpaceX the company scrapped last year.
On Christmas Eve 1968 three Americans became the first humans to visit another world. What they did to celebrate was unexpected and profound, and will be remembered throughout all human history. Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8, Robert Zimmerman's classic history of humanity's first journey to another world, tells that story, and it is now available as both an ebook and an audiobook, both with a foreword by Valerie Anders and a new introduction by Robert Zimmerman.
The print edition can be purchased at Amazon or from any other book seller. If you want an autographed copy the price is $60 for the hardback and $45 for the paperback, plus $8 shipping for each. Go here for purchasing details. The ebook is available everywhere for $5.99 (before discount) at amazon, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. If you buy it from ebookit you don't support the big tech companies and the author gets a bigger cut much sooner.
The audiobook is also available at all these vendors, and is also free with a 30-day trial membership to Audible.
"Not simply about one mission, [Genesis] is also the history of America's quest for the moon... Zimmerman has done a masterful job of tying disparate events together into a solid account of one of America's greatest human triumphs."--San Antonio Express-News
According to this detailed update on SpaceX’s work at Boca Chica by NASASpaceflight.com, we should expect the next orbital test flight of Starship/Superheavy some time in March 2026.
As far as the launch date for this first flight of Block 3, sources point to March as the most likely viable timeframe. This launch will mark numerous firsts, from the vehicle, its Raptor 3 engines, and the first use of the upgraded Pad 2 architecture that will be mirrored at Pad 1, along with 39A and SLC-37 on the East Coast.
Block 3 refers to a major upgrade in Starship, which will fly prototype #39. Meanwhile, work getting Superheavy prototype #19 prepped has moved fast, following the loss of #18 from an explosion during ground fueling tests.
Recent observations show significant milestones: after welding the liquid oxygen (LOX) tank to the engine section (including pre-installed landing tanks and transfer tube), teams added methane tank barrels and the forward dome with its integrated hot staging ring. By December 20, all barrel sections were delivered and stacked, achieving this in just 25 days from November 25 — half the 42 days required for Booster 17, the final Version 1 booster.
The report also said that a February launch is a possibility, but is less likely.
Meanwhile, news outlets are reporting that the Trump administration is considering giving SpaceX about 775 acres in a wildlife preserve adjacent to Starbase in exchange for 692 acres SpaceX owns elsewhere. If confirmed, this deal would be similar to the land swap Texas had wished to do with SpaceX the company scrapped last year.
On Christmas Eve 1968 three Americans became the first humans to visit another world. What they did to celebrate was unexpected and profound, and will be remembered throughout all human history. Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8, Robert Zimmerman's classic history of humanity's first journey to another world, tells that story, and it is now available as both an ebook and an audiobook, both with a foreword by Valerie Anders and a new introduction by Robert Zimmerman.
The print edition can be purchased at Amazon or from any other book seller. If you want an autographed copy the price is $60 for the hardback and $45 for the paperback, plus $8 shipping for each. Go here for purchasing details. The ebook is available everywhere for $5.99 (before discount) at amazon, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. If you buy it from ebookit you don't support the big tech companies and the author gets a bigger cut much sooner.
The audiobook is also available at all these vendors, and is also free with a 30-day trial membership to Audible.
"Not simply about one mission, [Genesis] is also the history of America's quest for the moon... Zimmerman has done a masterful job of tying disparate events together into a solid account of one of America's greatest human triumphs."--San Antonio Express-News


Back after IFT 12, when people were saying that the next flight would happen this year, and I predicted that late in Q1 2026 was more likely, I got a lot of pushback. Losing a booster can’t have helped, of course, but from everything I’ve seen, that didn’t actually make much difference, as I originally stated, the vehicle isn’t setting the timeline here, and the ground infrastructure for V3 just isn’t ready yet.
I’ve been watching the updates almost daily from NSF and RGV, and it’s just been astonishing how quickly they’ve been assembling Booster 19. Lightning speed.
So March definitely sounds doable.
Meanwhile, SpaceX just posted a shot of Booster 19 fully stacked in the Mega Bay, a little over an hour ago:
https://x.com/i/status/2003871611733295480
Still work to do, but it’s encouraging to see how quick they are already getting at stacking a booster.
Given recent progress on Pad 2 and at Massey’s, I’m inclined to think Felix Schlang at What About It? is likelier to be correct in his estimate of Flight 12’s departure date being in early February. If either Booster 19 or Ship 39 rolls to Massey’s for cryo testing by the end of this month, that early February estimate will be much more certain.
The prospective land swap with the feds is also good news. Perhaps the location of the federal parcel(s) is better aligned with SpaceX’s needs than was the abortive state-level swap. I think, ideally, that SpaceX should have more land appended to both its launch and production and test areas.
David Eastman,
I think you meant IFT 11. IFT 12 is the upcoming mission.
It would seem that you and we sunny optimists will probably wind up splitting the difference on our respective earlier estimates for IFT 12’s departure – early Feb. rather than this year or late March of next year.
I don’t think ground infrastructure readiness is going to be an issue. The cryo test infrastructure at Massey’s has been complete for some time, the ship hot-fire stand’s repairs/upgrades are perhaps a few days from completion and Pad 2’s initial readiness is not much further out. Everything about V3 boosters and ships has been revised to expedite assembly compared to the V2s. Once cryo tests are complete, for example, it probably won’t take more than a day or two for engine installs on either vehicle.