SpaceX just announced Major Plan Changes on Starship Flight 12 after B18 exploded...

SpaceX just announced Major Plan Changes on Starship Flight 12 after B18 exploded...
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SpaceX just announced Major Plan Changes on Starship Flight 12 after B18 exploded...
SpaceX is expected to delay Starship Flight 12 by about three months after Booster 18 exploded at Massey?
Well, definitely no. The company just announced a backup plan in place to cut the turnaround time as much as possible; they could even fly right after Ship 39 finishes its static fire test. All of this is to keep the 2026 schedule on track.
So, how will SpaceX overcome this? Let’s break it down in today’s episode of Alpha Tech.
It’s been three days since the Booster 18 incident at Massey’s, and the whole area is finally starting to wake back up. As expected, because the aft section of B18 was torn wide open, and way too risky to move, SpaceX decided to handle everything right on the spot. A big crane and a smaller lift were brought in and set up right next to the booster to start the “surgery.”
Yesterday, the forward section, the part that holds the CH4 tank, was cut loose with a laser torch and lifted down to the ground. After that, the team kept cutting it into three smaller pieces, including the hot-staging ring. Even though it’s already cut apart, the diameter is still a full nine meters, and that alone makes it a pain to move, not to mention the weight.
SpaceX just announced Major Plan Changes on Starship Flight 12 after B18 exploded...
As for the lower two-thirds of the booster, the part that took the damage, yeah, that’s most likely getting chopped into even smaller chunks. There’s zero sign it can be reused, so it’s basically turning into a mountain of stainless-steel scrap. Booster 18 probably cost tens of millions of dollars to build, and now it’s worth almost nothing. Scrap stainless steel these days? Not even a dollar per kilo.
But anyway, this whole incident is going to give SpaceX a lot more real-world experience to fix the pressure issues on future boosters. And it’s not just boosters, there’s the ship side too. Ship 39, the Block 3 upper stage, is about to start cryo testing here soon, so everything has to be prepared carefully.
In short, the experience they gain from this is worth more than what they lost with B18. It’s not just about money. It’s about the lessons learned.
Alright, those are the latest updates on Starship. Even though this was a pretty expensive lesson, SpaceX still has to face the reality: the booster meant for Starship Flight 12, scheduled for early 2026, is gone. So now Ship 39 is kind of lonely out there, because its partner just, didn’t make it. SpaceX needs to give it a new companion.
SpaceX just announced Major Plan Changes on Starship Flight 12 after B18 exploded...
But if they have to wait for the next booster, B19, to be ready, does that mean a 2–3 month delay?
Fortunately, no. Starship Flight 12 is still on track, and the schedule isn’t taking a major hit.
SpaceX confirmed this on X, saying: “The Starbase team plans to have the next Super Heavy booster stacked in December, which puts it on pace with the test schedule planned for the first Starship v3 vehicle and associated ground systems. Starship’s twelfth flight test remains targeted for the first quarter of 2026.”
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