IFT-12 Wet Dress Rehearsal Complete — Starship V3 in Final Pre-Launch Operations (T-3 Days)

SpaceX's Starship Integrated Flight Test 12 (IFT-12) — the maiden flight of the clean-sheet Starship V3 architecture — completed its full-stack Wet Dress Rehearsal (WDR) at Orbital Launch Pad 2, Starbase, Boca Chica, Texas, clearing the 408-foot Booster 19 + Ship 39 stack for final pre-launch countdown operations. With the NET window locked at May 19, 2026 at 5:30 PM CDT (22:30 UTC), May 16 marks T-3 days to the first flight of Raptor 3 engines, which offer a significant thrust increase over previous Raptor 2 variants. IFT-12 is a critical milestone on the NASA Artemis III HLS qualification path: Ship 39 will be the first Starship to test the docking port and propellant-transfer hardware that will eventually allow orbital refueling of the Starship HLS (Human Landing System) — the vehicle selected to carry Artemis IV crew to the lunar surface in 2028. The revised IFT-12 trajectory sends Ship 39 on a suborbital arc with splashdown in the Indian Ocean, while Booster 19 attempts a Mechazilla tower catch at Starbase. IFT-12 does not conduct actual ship-to-ship orbital propellant transfer (that demonstration remains unscheduled), but validates the docking ring, quick-disconnect interface, and propellant-transfer line hardware under simulated space conditions — a NASA-required precursor to the first HLS tanker demonstration. The launch window extends through May 21; no secondary scrub scenarios have been reported. Starbase weather teams issued a favorable forecast for the May 19 primary window.