SpaceX Starship Flight Test 3 | B10 crashes in Gulf, S28 burns up during reentry

Official SpaceX Stream on X/Twitter
NASASpaceflight on YouTube - IFT3 launch live stream link - going live at 11 PM CDT on Wednesday, March 13th

Typically epic "Preparing for Third Flight Test" hype video on the SpaceX YouTube

Just about 4 months after the wildly successful 2nd test flight of the Super Heavy Booster and Starship... SpaceX is ready for the 3rd test flight of the vehicle, featuring Super Heavy Booster B10 and Starship S28

SpaceX is officially targeting Thursday, March 14th (pending weather) for a window which runs from 7 AM - 8:50 AM CDT to launch B10 & S28

SpaceX and the FAA worked together following the 2nd fight test and came up with 17 corrective actions to take following the explosions of both vehicles... and there's evidence that SpaceX feels this 3rd test flight is the 1 that will make it... at least maybe booster makes the planned soft splashdown in the Gulf and Starship makes it to Starship Engine Cut-Off (SECO).

What gives that idea that SpaceX is feeling confident you ask? It's because S28 has operational payload bay doors.

On the previous 2 launched Starships... the payload bay doors were welded shut. This time, not only are the payload bay doors not welded closed... there's a new step added to the flight plan where SpaceX plans to test the payload bay doors in-flight while Starship is in its coast phase

Starship will launch from Starbase/Boca Chica, Texas out into the Gulf of Mexico, where Booster will separate from Starship thanks to the hot-staging maneuver and make a soft landing in the Gulf with some of its engines firing... it will then tip over, all valves will open to allow seawater in to sink it and allow it to become a new coral reef

Starship will continue on and split the strait between Florida & Cuba and head across Africa before going through reentry and belly flopping at terminal velocity in the Indian Ocean.

Following the success of the previous flight... it seems like the main objectives of this test will be to successfully land booster in the Gulf, make it to SECO, test the payload bay doors, test transitioning fuels between its tanks while in space, test reigniting a Raptor vacuum engine while in space, and get to reentry to see how the heat shield tiles hold up during reentry... actually splashing in the Indian Ocean at terminal velocity would be the ultimate success.

B10/S28 stacked and ready for launch