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SpaceX delays next Starship test launch by a month, Musk says

By Thomson Reuters Apr 3, 2026 | 12:13 PM

April 3 (Reuters) – SpaceX CEO Elon Musk said on Friday that the company’s next Starship test flight ​will take place in May ‌and not April as originally scheduled.

Musk posted on social media platform X that the next flight of Starship’s V3 vehicle was four ‌to ​six weeks away, or ⁠in the first ⁠two weeks of May. Earlier, he said the first flight would take place in April.

SpaceX’s debut of the V3 ​Starship iteration has been delayed for months as the company has ⁠packed dozens of upgrades ⁠into the vehicle to make ​it more reliable and suitable for NASA ​missions like landing on the moon ‌under the Artemis program.

Starship, SpaceX’s next‑generation rocket, is designed to be fully reusable and carry far larger payloads ⁠than SpaceX’s Falcon rocket.

SpaceX’s previous Starship test launch, its 11th, was in October.

SpaceX has confidentially ⁠filed for ‌a U.S. initial public ⁠offering, Reuters reported on Wednesday, ​setting ‌the stage for what could ​become the ⁠largest stock market debut on record.

The Starbase, Texas-headquartered firm is targeting a potential valuation of more than $1.75 trillion.

(Reporting by Sneha S K in Bengaluru; Editing by ​David Gregorio)