A few hours ago, Elon Musk’s space launch company, SpaceX, announced the date for Starship’s Flight 12 (IFT-12).
It’s the most anticipated rocket launch of the year because of major design and engineering changes to the V3 Starship spacecraft and the Super Heavy rocket booster.
The no-earlier-than (NET) date for Flight 12 Starship launch is Tuesday, May 19, 2026. The launch window will open at 5:30 PM Central Time (CT) or 6:30 PM Eastern Time (EST).
Unfavorable weather and technical issues can hinder the launch on the first day. Traditionally, SpaceX keeps following two days as backup launch windows if a scrub (flight delay) is needed for safety or technical reasons.
SpaceX wrote in its official announcement:
Starship’s Twelfth Flight Test
The twelfth flight test of Starship is preparing to launch as soon as Tuesday, May 19. The launch window will open at 5:30 p.m. CT.
A live webcast of the flight test will begin about 30 minutes before liftoff, which you can watch here and on X @SpaceX. You can also watch the webcast on the X TV app. As is the case with all developmental testing, the schedule is dynamic and likely to change, so be sure to check in here and stay tuned to our X account for updates.
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The upcoming flight will debut the next-generation Starship and Super Heavy vehicles, powered by the next evolution of the Raptor engine and launching from a newly designed pad at Starbase.
Flight 12 Starship fully stacked on Pad 2 OLM at SpaceX’s Starbase, Texas, launch site (Saturday, 9th May, 2026). Credit: SpaceX.
Completion of Pre-Flight Testing
SpaceX concluded Flight 12 Starship’s pre-flight testing by stacking the upper stage (Ship 39) on Booster 19 at Starbase, Texas, and loading 5000+ tonnes (11 million pounds) of propellant on the ship and booster.
SpaceX performed the first 33-engine static fire test on Flight 12 Booster 19 in April. A 10-engine static fire test was conducted on Booster 19 in March, but it was stopped abruptly. So, this first V3 Super Heavy rocket went through a static fire test every month for the last three months (including May).
The V2 generation of Starship prototypes ended with the successful Flight 11 launch and landing test. Flight 12 Starship is the first V3 generation spacecaraft with many modifications and upgrades from V2. Therefore, SpaceX took its time with extensive testing and iteration before announcing the launch date.
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A stunning view of the fully stacked Flight 12 Starship at Starbase, Texas. Credit: SpaceX.
Flight 12 Live Streams and Live Updates
A Starship Flight 12 live webcast will be officially streamed by SpaceX on its official social media account on X (formerly Twitter). Other live streams will be available on Everyday Astronaut and NasaSpaceFlight.com’s YouTube channels as well.
Like always, we will create a dedicated page where you can watch all the live-streams and get live text updates from us as the events unfold on the Flight 12 timeline.
So, stay tuned on 19th May, 6:30 PM ET / 5:30 PM CT.
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Author of more than 1500 articles on Tesla, SpaceX, and EVs. His work has been liked and tweeted by Elon Musk and other prominent influencers. You can reach him on Twitter @IqtidarAlii
