On Friday, May 22, 2026, Starship Version 3, the world’s tallest, most powerful rocket, hurtled into space, successfully executing the most complex set of technology demonstrations ever attempted on a single launch. Ever.

At 4:30 p.m. Central Time, the SpaceX flight director gave a GO for propellant loading and initiated the T-50 countdown. The countdown progressed — like clockwork — and by 5:30 p.m., both Super Heavy booster and Starship were fully fueled. The flight director verified GO for launch, flame diverters were activated, the booster engine startup command was issued, and 33 V3 Raptor engines thundered and roared to life, hurtling the massive rocket skywards. WHOOSH.

This win was a repudiation of the naysayers and “Never Muskers”…

Within 45 seconds, the rocket reached speeds exceeding 6,000 KM/H, throttling down through MAX Q, the moment of peak aerodynamic stress. Two and a half minutes later, the V3 Super Heavy booster separated from the ship itself but lost one V3 Raptor and then suffered an early engine shutdown, unable to initiate full boost back burn or flip maneuver. No matter. The booster accomplished its primary mission and was guided to splash down a few miles south of SpaceX Starbase off the coast of Florida in the Gulf of America.

A successful, if not flawless, mission for V3 Super Heavy, and excitement guaranteed.

Meanwhile, Starship ignites its six V3 Raptor engines (three vacuum modified and three sea level) and hurtles towards orbit. One V3 Vac Raptor winked out, but built-in redundancy rocketed the ship forward. Seventeen minutes into launch and 192 kilometers above the Earth, Ship shut down all V3 Raptors, opened its pod bay doors, activated the redesigned and supercharged “Pez Dispenser,” and over the next 30 minutes, deployed its entire payload of 20 dummy next-gen Starlink satellites — as well as two fully functional purpose-built active V3 “Dodger Dog” satellites to track Starship’s remaining milestones.

Payload deployed and barely 40 minutes into its orbital flight, Starship skipped its planned V3 Vac Raptor relight and prepared for reentry. Less than one hour after liftoff, Starship reentered the Earth’s atmosphere at transonic speed, reduced to subsonic, commenced its landing burn, re-ignited its sea-level V3 Raptors, and successfully completed its flip maneuver for a vertical descent into the Indian Ocean. The engines were throttled down from two to one, and Excelsior! One hour after launch, Starship gently “landed” within 10 meters of its target splashdown, hovering briefly before slipping gently beneath the waves in the Indian Ocean with a final rush of steam and a stunning flash of fire. Excitement guaranteed.

Think about it. Fueled from start to finish in just twice the time it takes to tank up an 18-wheeler big rig tractor-trailer. Two separate and successful rocket “landings” both within sight of their respective assigned landing coordinates. The deployment of twenty-two satellites — all with a never-before-flown prototype rocket system. And all accomplished from a brand-new, untried launching platform.

A stunning success — and a big win for Elon Musk, SpaceX, and the United States of America.

A big win.

This win was a repudiation of the naysayers and “Never Muskers” that attacked Musk personally for his attempts to address fraud, waste, and abuse in federal spending, bullied and threatened corporate advertisers off of the X media platform, sabotaged Tesla charging stations, firebombed Tesla storefronts, and attacked Tesla owners. And yes, the win muted the gleeful chorus of Democrats and mainstream media over the “big court loss” to OpenAI and Microsoft over a statute of limitations technicality. And yes, the win goes a long way to ensuring the success of the recently announced public offering of SpaceX stock (SPCX), expected to approach an unheard-of record-setting two trillion-dollar valuation. (RELATED: Tesla Protestors Are Left-Crazies, Not Liberals)

It is not too much to state that the foundational design of the now fully reusable V3 Starship and Super Heavy booster ensures not just America, but all of mankind, the capabilities essential to evolving into an interplanetary race. Capabilities that will put Man back on the Moon, and the first boot prints on Mars, Titan, and beyond. (RELATED: Mars Colonization Is Worth It, and America Needs to Pioneer the Laws Governing Space Investment)

We’re talking orbital Starship space stations, Starship orbital refueling platforms, Starship lunar colonies, Starship Martian research stations, and intended Starship resupply missions.

We’re talking over 10,000 annual SpaceX orbital launches within five years, and supersonic air travel on Earth from one side of the globe to the other within hours. It will literally take longer to queue up and take your seats on an intercontinental Starship than to reach the other side of the planet.

We’re talking revolutionizing the world’s space industry with launch prices reduced from thousands of dollars per kilogram to scant hundreds of dollars per kilogram.

Too much breathless enthusiasm for the first fully successful launch of Elon Musk’s Starship?

Not at all.

This launch is the catalyst that can realize Elon Musk’s goal to make life interplanetary. This launch validates once and for all the concept of a reusable interplanetary rocket that can be quickly placed back into service, that can go up and stay up in orbit for 48 hours, link up with other ships, do propellant transfer, and transport 100 tons of cargo or 100 human beings with associated life support. This launch demonstrated the core technology to unlock Starship — and once unlocked, those capabilities place the entire solar system at our doorstep.

This launch was the future.

READ MORE from Mike Howard:

Hantavirus Aboard the MV Hondius: A Cruise Outbreak Spreads Across Continents

The Cyber Attack That Never Happened

Spy Balloons, Exploding Pagers, Robot Wolves, and SIM Farms Redefine Warfare