Elon Musk says the next flight of Starship and first flight of V3 ship & booster is 4 to 6 weeks away. This means it is delayed from Aoril into May.
Next flight of Starship and first flight of V3 ship & booster is 4 to 6 weeks away pic.twitter.com/tg4OQQ7pyI
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 3, 2026
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Doubtless Musk is worried that another semi-failure that includes some successful booster landing, but another explosion mid-orbit of the first stage – you know, where the astronauts might be if manned – would be a bad look, especially when Artemis is about to circle the Moon and return a crew to Earth successfully (hopefully!) and SpaceX is about to have an IPO (too little float for too much money, with guaranteed stock dilution in the future as insiders sell initially restricted stock).
I renew my prediction that Pulsar or NASA will use a nuclear driven rocket to get to Mars in the early 2030s before Starship is anywhere near ready, and that it will be repurposed as a NEO space truck, or MAYBE good for transporting large amounts to the Moon, if NEO refueling can be safely figured out, but forget about refueling en route to Mars. Too slow and risky. Starship may never carry live crew, just Teslabots or some other unloading mechanisms. If there are still partial explosions by the end of this year, NASA will probably run out of patience and money when China beats the U.S. to the Moon and/or other private competitors like Pulsar, and this is coming up:
“NASA’s Nuclear Rocket Plans
NASA’s plans for nuclear rocket technology include the development of Space Reactor-1 Freedom, a spacecraft that will utilize nuclear electric propulsion to reach Mars by the end of 2028. This mission aims to demonstrate advanced nuclear electric propulsion in deep space, offering a more efficient and continuous acceleration method compared to traditional rockets. The spacecraft will carry autonomous helicopters to scout for water and safe landing zones on Mars, providing valuable insights for future human missions. The SR-1 Freedom mission is set to revolutionize space travel by harnessing nuclear power for deep space missions, leveraging existing technology with a focus on miniaturization and weight reduction.”
I am relieved that Starship development has slowed in recent times. I was becoming alarmed at the senseless waste, with the very predictable result of expensive explosions. Throwing so much volatile liquids into the air was very necessary early on as the design boundaries were forced out into the unknown, but we are entering a period where the Starship technology is maturing. I am still not satisfied about the “in-orbit refueling” paradigm, something that has not yet been proven, however, the possibility of expanded satellite launches seems to be well “on track” and will lift SpaceX profitability well beyond the performance of their earlier rocket achievements. I guess reaching orbit for Starship along with “re-usability” and releasing test satellites will come soon after this next test?
As for SLS, it is an unsafe and dangerous political, pork barreling, boondoggle that never had the design capabilities of the Apollo Era Saturn-5, and has now , very sensibly, reached it’s predictable end, thank goodness! I continue to pray for the safe return of the Artemis-2 Astronauts, such outstanding bravery must always be rewarded!
The manufacturing engineering expertise of SpaceX has advanced greatly to be “world leading”, and provides a sustainable platform for further development.
uhg, I’m tired of waiting, 6 months of zero flights…my will to live diminishes by the day.
Hurry up Musk.
SLS launch looked great, but it’s luster is 100,000% diminished in knowing it’s an unaffordable boondoggle, that will NEVER bring man to the stars. It’s a massive waste of time. Starship is our best path forward…unless of course the US Government wants to unveil some secret spacecraft that we know they have, those would make Starship look like a kids science fair project. But, fat chance of that.