AI illustration: Starship V3 first flight in about 4 weeks (early April 2026)
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Delivered · Late

Starship V3 first flight in about 4 weeks (early April 2026)

“Starship V3 first flight in about 4 weeks”
— Elon Musk · Mar 7, 2026 · Elon Musk on X — 'Starship V3 first flight in about 4 weeks' (verified @elonmusk) ↗
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What actually happened

Musk's ~Mar 7, 2026 statement projected the first Starship V3 flight 'in about 4 weeks' (early April 2026). The flight slipped: Flight 12, the first Starship V3 launch, was scrubbed May 21 and flew May 22, 2026 from Starbase - about six weeks past the predicted window. Status: a successful-enough suborbital test with minor anomalies. Space.com: SpaceX launches Starship V3 for the first time, Flight 12 (May 22 2026) ↗

The Progression

Mar 7, 2026
The promise: “Starship V3 first flight in about 4 weeks” · Elon Musk on X — 'Starship V3 first flight in about 4 weeks' (verified @elonmusk) ↗
May 22, 2026
Delivered · Late — 42 days late. Musk's ~Mar 7, 2026 statement projected the first Starship V3 flight 'in about 4 weeks' (early April 2026). The flight slipped: Flight 12, the first Starship V3 launch, was scrubbed May 21 and flew May 22, 2026 from Starbase - about six weeks past the predicted window. Status: a successful-enough suborbital test with minor anomalies. Space.com: SpaceX launches Starship V3 for the first time, Flight 12 (May 22 2026) ↗
Today · Jul 16, 2026
Status: Delivered · Late · 42 days late. It happened — eventually.

The V3 debut is the rocket SpaceX needs flying to attempt the November-December 2026 Mars window, and Musk repeatedly compressed its timeline: '6 weeks' on January 25, 'next month' on February 21, 'about 4 weeks' on March 7, then '4 to 6 weeks' on April 3. Flight 12 — the first V3 — finally flew on May 22, 2026, reaching space and soft-splashing the ship despite an engine-out, roughly seven weeks past the March prediction.

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