Starship Flight 12

Block 3's debut flight and the first launch from Pad 2 at Starbase. Two camera-equipped demonstrators trailed the ship during ascent, imaging its heat shield in real time, while the remaining 20 mass simulators were released through an improved dispenser mechanism — the largest payload deployment in the programme to date.

The booster was lost: an abnormal rapid flip at stage separation left only one engine relighting for the landing burn, and it impacted the Gulf of Mexico. The ship lost a Raptor early in the coast phase and flew a contingency reentry profile, completing a controlled Indian Ocean splashdown.