The New Frontier: Payload Economics — How Starship Changes Everything
The New Frontier: Payload Economics — How Starship Changes Everything Part 3 of a 6-part series. Part 1: The Vision | Part 2: The Timeline V3 Flies May 22, 2026. Starship V3 — stretched tanks, 33 Raptor 3 engines, catch-ready hardware — lifted off from Starbase, Boca Chica, on its first integrated flight test. IFT-12. The upgraded heat shield held through re-entry. Around twenty mock Starlink V3 satellites deployed from the payload bay. Super Heavy executed a controlled descent and splashed down in the Gulf of Mexico (catch attempt deferred for the first V3 flight — smart). The Ship completed a controlled splashdown in the Indian Ocean. ...