Booster 19 + Ship 39 Photos Released — SpaceX Ready for Historic 33-Raptor-3 Static Fire Ahead of IFT-12

On April 11, 2026, SpaceX released the first photographs of Super Heavy Booster 19 and Starship Ship 39 moving out of the Mega Bay factory at Starbase, Boca Chica, Texas, for their respective test campaigns — the critical final milestone before Starship IFT-12. As of April 11, Booster 19 — carrying a full complement of 33 Raptor 3 engines — had reached Orbital Launch Mount (OLM) Pad 2, while Ship 39 (the first full V3 Starship upper stage) was positioned at the Massey's Suborbital Test Stand. The parallel test campaign calls for a full-duration static fire of all 33 Raptor 3 engines on Booster 19 — a first for any rocket in SpaceX's V3 program — alongside a Ship 39 six-engine Raptor 2 Vacuum static fire. These dual static fires are the last major gating milestones before the full IFT-12 vehicle stack can be assembled and transported to the launch pad for the integrated flight test targeting early-to-mid May 2026. SpaceX is also ready to conduct the 33-engine static fire — the most powerful test ever of the Super Heavy booster — as soon as weather and range conditions permit. The dual tests confirm that both V3 hardware vehicles are ready for flight-level testing, making IFT-12 the first full V3 Starship configuration flight since the vehicle's debut configuration was significantly redesigned from V2.