SpaceX unveils Starship V3 with major design overhauls

Investing.com -- SpaceX on Tuesday introduced Starship V3, the third generation of its Starship and Super Heavy rocket system, featuring extensive redesigns based on years of flight testing and development. The new version will launch from a new pad at Starbase and be powered by upgraded Raptor 3 engines.

The Super Heavy V3 booster now uses three grid fins instead of four, with each fin 50% larger and stronger than before. The fins have been repositioned lower on the booster to reduce heat exposure from Starship's engines during hot-staging and include new catch points to support vehicle lift and catch operations. The grid fin shaft, actuator, and fixed structure have been relocated inside the booster's main fuel tank for improved protection.

An integrated hot stage replaces the previous single-use protective interstage. The forward dome of the booster fuel tank is now directly exposed to the Starship upper stage's Raptor engines upon ignition, with internal fuel tank pressure and a non-structural steel layer providing protection during stage separation.

The fuel transfer tube has been completely redesigned and is now roughly the size of a Falcon 9 first stage. This new design allows all 33 engines to start up simultaneously and enables faster, more reliable flip maneuvers.

The aft end thermal protection system has been redesigned with propulsion and avionics systems tightly integrated. Large individual engine shrouds have been eliminated, and shielding has been added between engines and around the thrust vector control hardware on the inner 13 engines. The carbon dioxide fire suppression system has been removed.

The booster now features two physically separated connection points for loading fuel and oxidizer, up from one, providing additional redundancy between the pad and vehicle connections.

Starship V3 features a clean-sheet redesign of its propulsion systems. These changes enable a new Raptor startup method, increase propellant tank volume, and improve the reaction control system used for steering during flight.

Aft end fluid and electrical systems have been rerouted, allowing for the deletion of individual engine shrouds and the large aft close-out volume. The aft flap actuation system has been upgraded from two actuators per flap to a single actuator with three motors, improving redundancy for return-to-launch-site operations while reducing mass and cost.

The Starlink PEZ Dispenser mechanism has been enhanced with new actuators and inverters, increasing deployment speed for each satellite.

Starship is now designed for long-duration flights with more efficient reaction control systems, isolation valves for high-pressure gases, 100% vacuum jacketing coverage of the header feed system, and a high-voltage electrically actuated cryogenic recirculation system. Four docking drogues have been added on the leeward side of the vehicle to enable docking with other Starships, along with propellant feed connections for ship-to-ship propellant transfer.

Starship and Super Heavy V3 will feature approximately 60 custom avionics units that integrate batteries, inverters, and high-voltage electrical distribution into single assemblies, capable of delivering approximately 9MW of peak power across the vehicles with distributed fault isolation. The upgraded multi-sensor navigation is designed for precision autonomous flight with high redundancy. New precision radio frequency sensors for measuring propellant levels in microgravity will enable accurate propellant monitoring ahead of in-space propellant transfer operations. Upgraded cameras will provide approximately 50 views with comprehensive vehicle coverage, powered by 480Mbps of redundant high-speed and low-latency Starlink real-time connectivity.

Raptor 3 engines deliver increased thrust, with sea-level variants now producing 250 tf up from 230 tf, while vacuum engines produce 275 tf up from 258 tf.

Sensors and controllers are now internally integrated and covered by engine thermal protection, eliminating the need for individual engine shrouds on both Starship and Super Heavy. All engine variants now feature a redesigned ignition system.

Mass of the Raptor sea-level engines has been reduced to 1,525 kg from 1,630 kg. Overall vehicle-level mass savings reach approximately 1 ton per engine through simplification of the engine itself, vehicle-side commodities, and supporting hardware.

Flight 12 will mark the first launch from Pad 2 at Starbase. The propellant farm has been upgraded with increased storage capacity and more pumps, enabling faster vehicle filling for launch.

On the launch tower, the chopsticks are now shorter, allowing faster motion to better track vehicles during catch operations. Their main actuators have been changed from hydraulic to electromechanical to improve speed, redundancy, and reliability. The quick disconnect arm for loading propellant into the Starship upper stage has been strengthened, repackaged, and now rotates farther away from the rocket during launch.

The launch mount structure and hold-downs have been completely redesigned to improve load sharing, throwback reliability, and protection during vehicle fly-out. Inside the mount, a new bidirectional flame diverter and top-deck flame deflector are designed to eliminate ablation and the need for refurbishment on these surfaces after launch. The launch mount quick disconnects for Super Heavy propellant loading have been moved to the opposite side of the mount and split into separate methane and oxygen mechanisms.

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