SpaceX CEO Elon Musk announced on social media that the company’s next test flight of the Starship V3 vehicle will occur in May rather than April. In his post, Musk said the flight was roughly four to six weeks away, placing the expected window in the first two weeks of May. He had previously indicated the initial flight would take place in April.
The V3 iteration of Starship has been delayed for several months as SpaceX has incorporated dozens of upgrades into the vehicle. These changes are intended to improve reliability and prepare the design for missions with more exacting requirements, including potential lunar landings under NASA’s Artemis program.
Starship is SpaceX’s next-generation launch vehicle. It is designed to be fully reusable and to carry substantially larger payloads than the company’s Falcon rocket family.
The firm’s most recent Starship test was its 11th launch, which occurred in October. Since then, the company has taken additional time to refine the V3 vehicle before attempting its next flight.
In parallel with testing activity, SpaceX has confidentially filed for a U.S. initial public offering. The company, headquartered in Starbase, Texas, is aiming for a potential valuation in excess of $1.75 trillion.
The revised schedule and the extended development period for V3 reflect an ongoing effort by SpaceX to consolidate multiple upgrades into a single vehicle iteration. The company has characterized those upgrades as measures to increase mission readiness and reliability for more demanding assignments.
The firm’s statements provide specific timing for the next flight but also underscore that the program has experienced protracted development as the V3 design has been adjusted and enhanced. The separate disclosure of a confidential IPO filing and the stated valuation target add a financial dimension to the company’s current public profile.