IFT-12 Post-Flight: Ship 39 Splashes Down Nominally in Indian Ocean; Booster 19 Lost After Boostback Anomaly — FAA Initiates Mishap Investigation

SpaceX completed its post-flight assessment of Starship Integrated Flight Test 12 (IFT-12), which launched May 22, 2026 at 22:30 UTC from Orbital Launch Pad 2 (OLP-2) at Starbase. The mission delivered a split result. Ship 39 — the first Starship V3 upper stage — performed nominally: it successfully reached a suborbital trajectory, deployed 22 Starlink V3 simulators via an improved 'Pez dispenser' ejection mechanism, withstood reentry with Elon Musk confirming the V3 heat shield 'held well,' and splashed down in the Indian Ocean as planned. A single Raptor vacuum engine shutdown during ascent was within the vehicle's fault-tolerant design margins. Booster 19 (Super Heavy, 33 Raptor 3 engines) suffered an off-nominal boostback burn: all 33 engines ignited successfully at liftoff, but during stage separation and the post-separation flip maneuver, multiple engines failed to fire during the boostback sequence. The booster entered an uncontrolled spin and impacted the Gulf of Mexico at high velocity — a crash rather than the planned controlled Gulf splashdown. A Mechazilla tower catch was not attempted on this debut V3 flight. The FAA confirmed it is 'aware an anomaly occurred during the SpaceX Starship Flight 12 mission involving the Super Heavy booster during its flyback' and launched a formal mishap assessment expected to conclude by June 2026; six flight departure delays and five airborne holding events were recorded. SpaceX post-flight statement (May 23) confirmed the booster anomaly and framed Ship 39's success as the primary mission objective. Gwynne Shotwell (SpaceX President) called IFT-12 'an incredible first flight of a brand new vehicle.' Elon Musk posted on X: '[An] epic first Starship V3 launch & landing.' The NASA-required docking port and orbital propellant-transfer interface hardware aboard Ship 39 survived the flight — a structural demonstration milestone for Artemis III HLS qualification — though no active propellant-transfer test was conducted on this flight. Artemis II crew (Wiseman, Glover, Koch, Hansen) on Day 43 post-splashdown at JSC continue reconditioning and mission debriefs.