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Starship V3: What SpaceX's Update Documents
SpaceX describes changes to Starship's next version. Our earlier payload, cost, and heat-shield figures lacked sources.
By Leo Ortega
Correction, October 18, 2026: Our earlier article included unsupported performance figures, a crewed-flight schedule, and an unattributed quotation. We have removed them.
SpaceX's 2025 Starship report introduces V3 and describes changes to the vehicle. Among them are revisions intended to reduce heat exposure around hot staging, when the ship separates from its booster.
Read the engineering details alongside the goals
The report describes retracting actuators on the interstage to protect them from engine exhaust after separation. These are specific design changes that readers can check against SpaceX's own account.
Our earlier story did not provide evidence for its claims about refurbishment-free reentries, launch-cost savings, or a near-term crewed Mars program. Those figures should not be used to judge the vehicle's demonstrated performance.