IFT-12 Slips to May 21 — SpaceX Stacks Starship V3 at Pad 2 for Launch Preparation

SpaceX announced a one-day slip on May 19, 2026, moving the Starship Integrated Flight Test 12 (IFT-12) Net Earliest Timing (NET) from May 19 to May 21, 2026 at 6:30 PM EDT (22:30 UTC). No technical anomaly prompted the change; the adjustment was attributed to final pad and range readiness coordination at Orbital Launch Pad 2 (OLP-2), Starbase, Boca Chica, Texas. The vehicle — Booster 19 and Ship 39 — was stacked at OLP-2 on May 19 in final launch configuration, confirming SpaceX's intent to fly as soon as the window opened. Teams completed pre-launch propellant system checks, avionics verification, and Eastern Range (FAA/Space Force) safety polling. The backup window extends through May 22. IFT-12 is the maiden flight of Starship V3 (Block 3): Booster 19 carries 33 Raptor 3 engines — a clean-sheet redesign offering improved thrust and reliability over Raptor 2 — while Ship 39 is the first Starship equipped with a pressurized docking port and propellant-transfer interface hardware, mandated by NASA as a precursor to Artemis III Human Landing System qualification. IFT-12 is the first launch from OLP-2 and the first Starship flight in approximately seven months. Booster 19 will attempt a water splashdown in the Gulf of Mexico (no Mechazilla tower catch on this debut flight); Ship 39 will fly a suborbital arc to splashdown in the Indian Ocean off western Australia, validating the new docking hardware under simulated space conditions. The Artemis II crew remains in post-flight reconditioning at Johnson Space Center on Day 39 post-splashdown.