The Twelfth Launch (Flight 12) of SpaceX's Starship Rocket Has Been Postponed to May 21
In recent days, SpaceX announced that the twelfth launch (Flight 12) of the reusable Starship rocket would take place no earlier than May 20 at 0:30 (Italian time). Previously, there had been talk of a possible launch on both May 13 and then May 16, but neither date had been officially confirmed by Elon Musk's company; now the information has been directly provided.
In the past hours, SpaceX announced a one-day delay compared to what was indicated earlier. According to reports, the Flight 12 mission of the reusable Starship rocket is now expected to take place no earlier than May 21 at 0:30 (Italian time). The postponement is for one day, while the company conducts further tests on the hardware that will be used for the twelfth launch. Delaying a launch of a rocket revised in many components is not unusual; quite the opposite.
The twelfth launch of Starship will not occur before May 21. It is important to note that for Flight 12, third-generation hardware will be used for the first time. This means many innovations while maintaining the original concept of a fully reusable rocket. For safety reasons, neither Super Heavy Booster 19 nor Ship 39 will be recovered. The former will gently splash down (if all goes as planned) in the Gulf of Mexico a few minutes after liftoff, while the second stage will splash down off the coast of Australia in the Indian Ocean approximately 65 minutes after launch.
Among the innovations, it is noteworthy that the Pad 2 at Starbase (Texas) will be used for the first time. The previous eleven launches all took place from Pad 1, which was built to allow rapid iteration but with several limitations that were gradually corrected. Pad 2 is certainly different and more robust while retaining the characteristic Mechazilla tower.
SpaceX has focused in recent days on the flame suppression system (deluge system) to ensure the success of the launch right from the first seconds. This is also due to the use of atmospheric Raptor 3 engines, still 33, located at the base of Super Heavy. These engines are structurally simpler but also more powerful than the previous Raptors and could therefore generate a large amount of heat, sound waves, and vibrations.
As explained by the company, each element of the architecture has been revised to get closer to the more ambitious goal: complete and rapid reusability, made possible by years of testing, mistakes, improvements, and insights accumulated flight after flight. Due to the many innovations, the booster will not be recovered as the risk of hitting ground structures is higher. This maneuver may instead be attempted during Flight 13, but it has not yet been confirmed.
Super Heavy Booster 19 is the first model of the third generation that includes a new fuel distribution system, three upper fins instead of four (even though this new model is larger). Hardware necessary for their operation is now more protected from the ignition of the second stage engines during hot staging, while the HSR ring (hot staging ring) has been integrated and will no longer be detached during reentry.
The upper stage of Starship, Ship 39, will still use a total of 6 engines, 3 atmospheric Raptor 3 engines and 3 Raptor 3 vacuum engines (RVac). SpaceX also aims to attempt the release of 22 mockups of third-generation Starlink satellites. One of the innovations is that the last two units will be equipped with cameras to capture the thermal shield, and for this reason, some tiles are white to provide a visual reference for engineers.
The trajectory of Starship will always be suborbital (in the early phases, it will be slightly shifted more to the south) with the mission also involving the restart of a single Raptor 3 engine in space. According to official information, the second stage will perform some experimental maneuvers already seen in previous flights: one to push the rear flaps to their structural limits, and the other to simulate the trajectory that future missions will need to follow to return to Starbase (perhaps for Flight 14).
Given the large number of innovations, although this is the twelfth integrated launch (not counting the hop tests), it is as if it were a new rocket, starting from the experience gained with previous models. The success of all operations is challenging but not impossible and will be crucial in view of Artemis III, scheduled for the second half of next year. For this reason, Ship 39 already integrates the positioning system that will be used for orbital refueling docking, which we expect to see only later.