Starship Flight 3
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Starship V1 · Thursday, March 14, 2024

Starship Flight 3

Reached space and completed in-space tests; ship lost on reentry, booster lost during descent.

Result
Partial
Super Heavy
Lost
Starship
Lost
Duration
~49 min (planned)

Photo: SpaceX

Flight replay

Watch Starship Flight 3

Video: SpaceX. Watch SpaceX's full webcast.

The flight

What Happened

The third flight reached space and a coast phase, and demonstrated a payload-door opening and an in-space propellant-transfer test. The Starship was lost during atmospheric reentry, and the Super Heavy booster was lost during its descent over the Gulf.

Firsts

  • First Starship to reach space and a coast phase
  • First payload-door demonstration
  • First in-space propellant-transfer test

Flight path

STARBASEINDIAN OCEANLOSTLOST
The typical Starship flight plan. SpaceX publishes no minute-by-minute timeline for this flight. A dashed line is a stage that did not finish its plan.

Two stages

Booster and Ship

Super Heavy boosterLost
Lost during descent over the Gulf
Starship upper stageLost
Lost during reentry over the Indian Ocean

Objectives

  • Reach coast phase in space
  • Demonstrate payload door operation
  • Demonstrate in-space propellant transfer
  • Attempt controlled reentry

Anomalies

  • Booster lost during descent
  • Ship lost during reentry heating

Sources