SpaceX launches Starship V3 for the first time, but loses booster on return

SpaceX 首次发射星舰 V3，但助推器在返回时失联

SpaceX has launched the upgraded third version of its Starship rocket for the first time, though the test launch did not go perfectly for Elon Musk’s spaceflight company. The 407-foot rocket — the most powerful ever built — lifted off from SpaceX’s company town Starbase, Texas, at 5:30 p.m. local time. SpaceX 首次发射了升级后的第三代星舰（Starship）火箭，尽管对于埃隆·马斯克的这家航天公司来说，此次试射并不算完美。这枚 407 英尺高的火箭是史上动力最强的火箭，于当地时间下午 5:30 从 SpaceX 位于德克萨斯州的“星际基地”（Starbase）发射升空。

Just a few minutes later, the upper stage ship separated from the Super Heavy booster and continued on into space. The booster pitched away from the Starship vehicle and headed back to Earth, where it was supposed to perform a simulated landing in the Gulf of Mexico. But the booster’s engines did not properly re-ignite for the sustained burn that is meant to deliver it back to the launch site. The booster then tumbled down to the water, where it likely exploded. 几分钟后，星舰上级与“超重型”助推器分离并继续飞向太空。助推器在与星舰分离后转向返回地球，原计划在墨西哥湾进行模拟着陆。然而，助推器的发动机未能按预期重新点火以进行返回发射场的持续燃烧。随后，助推器坠入水中并很可能发生了爆炸。

Starship, meanwhile, lost one of its six Raptor engines as it ascended into space. But it successfully deployed all 20 of the Starlink satellite simulators along with two modified Starlink satellites meant to record footage of Starship’s exterior. Roughly one hour after liftoff, Starship simulated a landing in the Indian Ocean, before tipping over and exploding as expected. 与此同时，星舰在上升过程中失去了六台猛禽（Raptor）发动机中的一台。但它成功部署了全部 20 个星链（Starlink）卫星模拟器，以及两颗用于拍摄星舰外部画面的改进型星链卫星。起飞约一小时后，星舰在印度洋进行了模拟着陆，随后按预期倾覆并爆炸。

While it didn’t go exactly according to plan, this was an important test launch for SpaceX. It was the first real shakedown of the upgraded Starship V3 hardware, which has been in development for months. The company was also testing out an all-new launchpad at Starbase that it’s been developing and building for years. 虽然过程并未完全按计划进行，但这对于 SpaceX 来说仍是一次重要的试射。这是对已开发数月的升级版星舰 V3 硬件的首次实战检验。该公司还测试了在星际基地开发和建造多年的全新发射台。

The test launch also comes at a historical inflection point for SpaceX as a company. Its IPO filing was made public this week, and SpaceX is expected to list on the Nasdaq in mid-June. The IPO is reportedly supposed to raise around $75 billion for SpaceX, which the company plans to use to fuel further development, massive AI ambitions, and to pay off some of the debt associated with xAI and Musk’s social media company X. (That means this could also be the last Starship test launch to happen without a stock market reaction.) 此次试射正值 SpaceX 公司历史上的一个转折点。本周，其 IPO 申请文件已公开，预计 SpaceX 将于 6 月中旬在纳斯达克上市。据报道，此次 IPO 预计将为 SpaceX 筹集约 750 亿美元，公司计划将其用于推动进一步发展、实现宏大的 AI 雄心，并偿还与 xAI 及马斯克旗下社交媒体公司 X 相关的一些债务。（这意味着，这可能是最后一次不受股市波动影响的星舰试射。）

SpaceX has spent years and billions of dollars developing Starship, which it sees as crucial to its mission of making life multi-planetary. The company plans to use Starship for NASA missions to the moon, and eventually Mars. But the big job it needs to perform in the near-term is delivering more advanced Starlink satellites to Earth orbit, as Starlink is the only profitable part of SpaceX’s business. SpaceX 多年来投入数十亿美元开发星舰，并将其视为实现“让人类成为多行星物种”这一使命的关键。该公司计划利用星舰执行 NASA 的登月任务，并最终实现火星任务。但其近期需要完成的重要任务是将更先进的星链卫星送入地球轨道，因为星链是 SpaceX 目前唯一盈利的业务板块。

This was the first Starship flight since October 2025. SpaceX had planned to attempt launching Starship V3 earlier, but one of the first upgraded boosters suffered an explosion during testing in November. SpaceX first attempted the launch on Thursday but ultimately had to delay it as a hydraulic pin on the launch tower arm refused to retract, according to Musk. 这是自 2025 年 10 月以来的首次星舰飞行。SpaceX 原计划更早尝试发射星舰 V3，但其中一个升级版助推器在 11 月的测试中发生了爆炸。据马斯克称，SpaceX 原定于周四首次尝试发射，但由于发射塔臂上的一个液压销无法缩回，最终不得不推迟。

This new version of Starship features SpaceX’s third-generation Raptor engines, which have more thrust and a far simpler design. The new booster is designed for faster takeoffs and easier catches by the launch tower. 新版星舰采用了 SpaceX 的第三代猛禽发动机，其推力更大，设计也更为简洁。新款助推器旨在实现更快的起飞速度，并更易于被发射塔捕获。