Episode
LIVE: #SpaceX Starship Launch & #UFO News
- Podcast
- The Tempest Universe Podcast
- Published
- May 21, 2026
- Duration seconds
- 2542
- Processing state
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- https://api.spreaker.com/episode/72105866
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Summary
LIVE: SpaceX Starship Launch & UFO News Starship Flight 12 (IFT-12) is the maiden flight of Starship Version 3 (Block 3), using Booster 19 (B19) and Ship 39 (S39). It marks the first launch from Starbase's new Orbital Launch Pad 2 (Pad B) and debuts major redesigns for full rapid reusability. The flight is a suborbital test (transatmospheric trajectory), with the booster splashing down in the Gulf of Mexico and the ship in the Indian Ocean. Launch targeted for May 21, 2026, around 5:30–7:00 PM CDT (window shifted to ~6:00 PM CT).Key Highlights and Special Features First V3 Vehicles: Significant upgrades to Starship, Super Heavy, and Raptor 3 engines (clean-sheet propulsion changes, increased tank volume, new startup methods, larger grid fins on booster). These incorporate lessons from prior flights for higher performance, reliability, and eventual 100+ ton payloads to orbit. New Launch Pad (Pad 2): First use of the redesigned pad with upgraded propellant farms (more capacity and faster pumps) and improved tower chopsticks (electromechanical actuators for speed/reliability). Heavy Payload Demo: Deploys 22 Starlink simulators (~44 tonnes total mass, a record for Starship tests). Includes 20 standard simulators + 2 specially modified ones to scan Starship's heat shield during flight and transmit imagery (testing future tile inspection for return-to-launch-site missions). Some tiles were painted white to simulate damage.In-Space and Reentry Tests: Single Raptor engine relight in space.Controlled reentry with banking maneuver (simulating future Starbase return trajectory).Intentional stress test on rear flaps. One heat shield tile was intentionally removed to measure the effects on adjacent tiles. Booster Objectives: Full launch, ascent, hot-staging separation, boostback bu…