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Starbase, Texas — SpaceX has successfully completed a full-duration static fire test of Ship 39, the first Version 3 (V3) Starship upper stage, marking a key milestone in preparations for the vehicle’s upcoming Flight 12 test mission.

The test, conducted at SpaceX’s Massey’s test site near Starbase, involved igniting all six Raptor 3 engines on the upper stage—three sea-level variants and three vacuum-optimized ones—for an extended duration, reported to be approximately 60 seconds. This represented the first full static fire for a V3 Starship spacecraft and the initial integrated firing of its upgraded propulsion system.

Version 3 Starship features significant upgrades over previous iterations, including Raptor 3 engines with higher thrust and improved reliability, enhanced heat shielding, and structural reinforcements designed to support higher payload capacities and more ambitious missions, such as expanded Starlink deployments and future crewed flights. Each Raptor 3 engine on the ship produces approximately 280 metric tons of thrust, yielding a combined total of about 1,680 metric tons (roughly 16.5 MN) when all six fire.

Starship 39 performed a long duration static fire test at the Starbase Massey's test site today firing 6 Raptor 3 engines in preparation for upcoming Starship test flight 12. Awesome!

4/14/26 pic.twitter.com/mOCIYDEsKi

— Starship Gazer (@StarshipGazer) April 14, 2026

The test followed a series of preparatory steps, including cryogenic propellant loading (tanking), spin prime tests, and igniter checks. After the successful firing, Ship 39 was rolled back to a production facility for post-test inspections and refurbishment before potential stacking with its Super Heavy booster counterpart.

This static fire for the upper stage comes after an initial V3 booster test in mid-March 2026, when Booster 19 (the first V3 Super Heavy) performed a shorter 10-engine static fire on the newly activated Pad 2 at Starbase. That test ended early due to a ground support equipment issue but successfully demonstrated ignition of the Raptor 3 engines. Booster 19 is expected to undergo a full 33-engine static fire soon, completing the propulsion validation for the full stack.

SpaceX has not yet announced an exact launch date for Flight 12, the debut orbital test of the full V3 Starship/Super Heavy stack, but the rapid testing cadence suggests it could occur in the coming weeks, potentially in May, pending regulatory approval from the FAA. Previous Starship flights have progressively demonstrated improvements in reusability, in-flight refueling techniques, and booster catch operations.

Elon Musk and SpaceX have emphasized that V3 represents a major step toward operational Starship capabilities, aiming for rapid reusability and the high flight rates needed for satellite megaconstellations, lunar missions under NASA’s Artemis program, and eventual Mars exploration.

No anomalies were reported during the Ship 39 test, and all personnel remained safe, consistent with SpaceX’s iterative “test, test, test” development approach. Further details on test data and any observations will likely be shared in upcoming updates as the company analyzes results.

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