When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission.SpaceX’s advanced new Starship megarocket will fly for the first time a week from today, if all goes to plan.SpaceX is targeting May 19 for the debut launch of its Starship V3 (Version 3), a bigger and more capable vehicle that could help humanity take its first steps on the moon and Mars, the company announced Tuesday (May 12).AdvertisementAdvertisementThe rocket will lift off from SpaceX’s Starbase site in South Texas on May 19 during a 90-minute window that opens at 6:30 p.m. EDT (2230 GMT; 5:30 p.m. local Texas time). You’ll be able to watch it live here at Space.com when the time comes.Another view of the May 11 launch rehearsal. | Credit: SpaceXThis will be the 12th flight overall for Starship, the biggest and most powerful rocket ever built. But it will be the first for Starship V3, which SpaceX says boasts many improvements over its predecessors.For example, the V3 Super Heavy first stage now has three grid fins — lattice-like structures that help the booster steer its way back to Earth for recovery and reuse — instead of the original four. And each fin is now 50% larger and significantly stronger, according to SpaceX.”These fins include a new catch point and have been re-clocked on the booster to support vehicle lift and catch operations,” the company wrote in an update today. “They have also been lowered to reduce heat exposure from Starship’s engines during hot-staging.”AdvertisementAdvertisementSpaceX made many other modifications to Super Heavy as well. For example, the “hot stage” that joins the booster to the Ship upper stage is now integrated into Super Heavy and will not be discarded during flight.In addition, Super Heavy’s “fuel transfer tube, which channels cryogenic fuel from the main tank to the 33 Raptor engines, has been completely redesigned and is now roughly the size of a Falcon 9 first stage,” SpaceX wrote. “This new design enables all 33 engines to start up simultaneously and faster, more reliable flip maneuvers.”Ship has been altered significantly as well. For instance, V3 features a “clean-sheet redesign of its propulsion system” — changes that “enable a new Raptor startup method, increase propellant tank volume, and improve the reaction control system used for steering while in flight,” according to SpaceX. “The propulsion updates also reduce contained volumes in the aft end of the vehicle that could trap propellant …
