IFT-13 FCC Window Opens May 29 — Modified Suborbital Profile Expected After Booster 19 Loss; Orbital Propellant Transfer Demo Slips Past June 2026

SpaceX's Integrated Flight Test 13 (IFT-13) has a Federal Communications Commission Special Temporary Authority operational window running from May 29 to November 29, 2026, pairing Ship 40 (second Starship V3 upper stage) with Booster 20 (Super Heavy V3, 33 Raptor 3 engines) for launch from Orbital Launch Pad 2 (OLP-2) at Starbase, Boca Chica, Texas. However, the FAA is assessing whether a formal mishap investigation is required for IFT-12's Booster 19 boostback failure (May 22) — SpaceX cannot receive a flight license for IFT-13 until that assessment is resolved, a process expected to conclude no earlier than June 2026, pushing the earliest IFT-13 launch to Q3 2026. Following Booster 19's anomaly (multiple engines failing to ignite during the boostback burn, resulting in an uncontrolled Gulf of Mexico crash), community tracking and industry analysts indicate IFT-13's mission profile will be modified from an orbital flight to a second suborbital arc to re-validate the boostback and landing burn sequences before attempting orbital insertion. This has significant implications for the Artemis program: NASA's Starship Human Landing System qualification requires SpaceX to first demonstrate orbital propellant transfer — two Starships launching approximately 3-4 weeks apart, docking in LEO, and transferring cryogenic propellant ship-to-ship. With IFT-13 at earliest Q3 2026 and the orbital demo requiring at least two subsequent successful orbital launches, the propellant transfer demonstration originally anticipated for June 2026 has now slipped to Q3-Q4 2026 at minimum. A May 24 Motley Fool analysis noted that Rocket Lab — which is pursuing in-space fueling capability for its Neutron rocket — may now demonstrate orbital propellant transfer before SpaceX, underscoring the strategic significance of the IFT-12 anomaly. Separately, NASA made two leadership changes this week: Matt Anderson was sworn in as NASA's 16th Deputy Administrator on May 21, and NASA announced an agencywide realignment on May 22 to accelerate mission delivery. A NASA Moon Base strategy news conference is scheduled for May 26 at 2 PM EDT, expected to detail the $20B, 7-year lunar surface base program announced at the 'Ignition' event in March 2026. The Artemis II crew — Commander Reid Wiseman, Pilot Victor Glover, Mission Specialist Christina Koch, and Canadian Mission Specialist Jeremy Hansen — are on Day 45 post-splashdown at Johnson Space Center, continuing physiological reconditioning.