“This is the year of the giants. It’s what we’re calling it on the Space Coast. And we’re bringing Starship out to the Space Coast": Col. Brian Chatman.

SpaceX’s lunar Starship was never designed to blaze back through Earth’s atmosphere in a shower of plasma. Instead, the company has quietly positioned its Human Landing System as a one‑way ferry that lives and dies in cislunar space,

SpaceX is set to push the boundaries of space exploration with the upcoming debut of its most ambitious version of Starship yet. In a recent post on X (formerly Twitter), CEO Elon Musk revealed that the company plans to conduct the 12th test flight of the Starship rocket as soon as early March 2026.

Flight 12 will try to extend that run of success while also breaking in the new "Version 3" of Starship. Among other modifications, this variant is a bit taller than its predecessors and will also be the first to employ SpaceX's new Raptor 3 engine.

The first Starship test flight of 2026 is scheduled for as soon as early March as SpaceX enters a critical year in the vehicle’s development.