---
type: source
title: "Starship IFT-12: FAA Final Approval Granted, Revised Southerly Trajectory, NET May 15 from OLP-2"
author: "NASASpaceFlight / Basenor / SpaceNews / SpaceLaunchSchedule / Polymarket"
url: https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2026/05/spacex-mid-may-starship-flight-12-revised-trajectory/
date: 2026-05-02
domain: space-development
secondary_domains: []
format: thread
status: unprocessed
priority: high
tags: [Starship, IFT-12, V3, Raptor-3, FAA, OLP-2, trajectory, booster-19, ship-39, launch-date]
intake_tier: research-task
---

## Content

**IFT-12 Launch Status (as of May 8, 2026):**

**FAA gate: CLEARED.** SpaceNews headline: "FAA provides final approval for next Starship launch." The IFT-11 mishap investigation (opened April 2, 2026 from anomaly discovered in post-flight data review of the October 13, 2025 flight) has closed. SpaceX submitted corrective actions; agency signed off.

**Vehicle readiness:**
- Booster 19: 33-engine static fire complete April 15, 2026 (all Raptor 3 engines)
- Ship 39: Full static fire complete April 15-16, 2026
- Both vehicles are Block 3 / V3 configuration — first fully V3 vehicles to reach the pad

**Launch schedule:**
- NET: May 15, 2026 at 22:30 UTC (5:30 PM CT)
- Launch windows: May 12-18, daily ~5:30 PM CT, 2-hour window per day
- Site: Orbital Launch Pad 2 (OLP-2) at Starbase, Boca Chica, TX — inaugural launch from this pad

**Revised trajectory (key new development):**
- More southerly departure over Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean
- Rationale: In event of mishap similar to Ships 33 or 34, debris falls into open waters of Caribbean Sea rather than near populated areas
- Profile: Suborbital test — Booster 19 boostback and splashdown in Gulf of Mexico; Ship 39 high-energy suborbital to powered splashdown in Indian Ocean
- NO booster catch attempt: Booster 19 is NOT planned for chopsticks catch. Future V3 booster catches deferred until additional flights validate launch/recovery sequences.
- This broadly follows the profile proven on Flights 10 and 11

**FCC license:** Valid through October 2026, covering Flights 12 and 13.

**Block 3 / V3 significance vs. V2:**
- Taller Starship + Super Heavy, increased propellant capacity
- All-Raptor 3 engines (first fully Raptor 3 Super Heavy in history)
- ~3x payload capacity in full reuse mode compared to V2
- First in-flight data on Raptor 3 performance
- Upper stage reentry survival: KEY TEST — no V2 upper stage survived reentry; V3 must demonstrate this for full reuse economics

**Prediction markets:**
- Polymarket (as of May 7, 2026): **91% probability of successful launch** (share price at 91¢)
- Active trading through May 7 shows high trader confidence

**SpaceX 2026 launch cadence projections (NextBigFuture, April 2026):**
- ~1 launch every 3-6 weeks expected during mid-2026 if IFT-12 succeeds
- 10-20 total Starship launches possible in 2026
- Q4 2026 potentially reaching 8-12 total launches (Starbase + LC-39A first flights)
- Booster/ship reuse demonstrated → 2-3 week turnaround targets

## Agent Notes

**Why this matters:** IFT-12 is a binary event with asymmetric information value. It is the primary 2026 data point for Belief 2 (launch cost/Starship thesis). Four specific questions will be answered: (1) Does Raptor 3 perform as advertised in flight? (2) Does V3 upper stage survive reentry (no V2 ever did)? (3) Does OLP-2 work flawlessly on debut? (4) What does SpaceX say about booster reuse timeline post-flight? Any anomaly in these four areas affects the IPO roadshow narrative starting June 8.

**What surprised me:** The revised trajectory (southerly over Caribbean) is a meaningful operational change from prior flights, not just a scheduling note. SpaceX apparently incorporated IFT-11 mishap lessons into the flight plan before the investigation formally closed — the trajectory change is a corrective action implemented proactively. This suggests the anomaly involved re-entry or ascent debris pattern concerns, though root cause remains undisclosed.

**What I expected but didn't find:** Expected to find the specific corrective actions from the IFT-11 investigation. These are not publicly disclosed — consistent with prior Starship investigation patterns (SpaceX-led investigation, root cause not published externally). The trajectory revision is the only visible implementation of whatever corrective actions were required.

**KB connections:**
- [[Starship achieving routine operations at sub-100 dollars per kg is the single largest enabling condition for the entire space industrial economy]] — IFT-12 is the primary 2026 test of this claim
- [[Starship economics depend on cadence and reuse rate not vehicle cost because a 90M vehicle flown 100 times beats a 50M expendable by 17x]] — no reuse attempted on IFT-12; the economics proof point is deferred again
- [[the space launch cost trajectory is a phase transition not a gradual decline analogous to sail-to-steam in maritime transport]] — Raptor 3 + V3 is the next point on the cost curve

**Extraction hints:**
- **CLAIM CANDIDATE (if IFT-12 succeeds):** "Starship V3 demonstrates Raptor 3 full-fleet in-flight performance and upper stage reentry survival, validating the hardware stack for the reuse economics required for sub-$100/kg launch costs" — wait for post-flight
- **STATUS UPDATE needed on prior IFT-12 archive** (2026-04-30-starship-ift12-may-2026-target-faa-gate.md): The FAA gate was still open as of April 30. It is now closed. This archive supersedes that status.
- **Do NOT extract a claim until IFT-12 actually flies.** The pre-flight status is informative but the claim value is in the flight outcome.

**Context:** NSF (NASASpaceFlight.com) is the primary technical news source for Starship coverage. SpaceNews "FAA provides final approval" headline is the authoritative confirmation of investigation closure.

## Curator Notes (structured handoff for extractor)
PRIMARY CONNECTION: [[Starship achieving routine operations at sub-100 dollars per kg is the single largest enabling condition for the entire space industrial economy]]
WHY ARCHIVED: FAA clearance is the last hard gate before IFT-12. The revised southerly trajectory is a new operational detail with implications for mishap risk framing. Polymarket 91% is a calibrated probability estimate from prediction markets.
EXTRACTION HINT: This is a pre-launch status archive — don't extract a standalone claim. The extractor should update the existing Starship cost trajectory claims with the V3/IFT-12 outcome AFTER the flight. Use this archive as context for post-IFT-12 extraction.
