SpaceX Starship integrated flight test 3 (IFT-3) was the third integrated flight test of the SpaceX Starship launch vehicle. SpaceX performed the flight test on March 14, 2024.^[3][4]

Starship successfully completed a full-duration second stage burn, reaching the intended orbital velocity for the first time, but broke up during re-entry in the atmosphere.^[4][5][6]

IFT-3 launched from the SpaceX Starbase facility along the South Texas coast around 8:25 CDT. As with IFT-2, ignition of all 33 booster engines and stage separation were both successful.^[16] B10 successfully conducted a boostback burn; however, the planned landing in the Gulf of Mexico was not successful due to multiple engine failures. Following the failures, SpaceX reported that the booster was destroyed at an estimated altitude of approximately 462 metres (1,516 ft).^[3] No cause was given for the loss of the booster.

The Starship spacecraft itself reached space and the intended orbital velocity. It then conducted several tests after engine cutoff, including a propellant transfer demo and payload dispenser test. It attempted to re-enter the atmosphere over the Indian Ocean, and at an altitude of around 65 km, all telemetry from Ship 28 stopped, indicating a loss of the vehicle.^[17][18][4]

After the launch, SpaceX confirmed that Super Heavy was destroyed at 462 m above sea level over the Gulf of Mexico.^[3] The status of the payload door test became one of the focuses of unofficial interpretations of the flight in YouTube and news articles, due to a perceived issue seen from the flight video concerning the payload door. SpaceX's account of the launch states that the payload test had been a success.^[3]

Gwynne Shotwell, president and chief operating officer of SpaceX, said the company was still investigating the data and what went wrong in IFT-3, but that IFT-4 could launch soon, possibly by early May.^[21]

NASA chief Bill Nelson praised SpaceX for "a successful test flight". He also stated, "Today we are making great strides through Artemis to return humanity to the Moon - then look onward to Mars." SpaceX founder and CEO Elon Musk also praised the team and stated "Starship will take humanity to Mars."^[22]

On March 14, 2024, the FAA declared that a mishap had occurred involving both the upper stage and booster, triggering the start of a SpaceX-led investigation overseen by the FAA.^[23] The agency's associate administrator for commercial space transportation, Kelvin Coleman, said on March 18 that he did not anticipate any major issues that could delay the investigation. Additionally, there was talk for the FAA to begin issuing a "portfolio of launches", authorizing multiple launches rather than a single launch at a time, as part of a broader effort to streamline the launch license process in response to criticism from SpaceX and Congress that the FAA was moving too slow on approving them.^[24] The next launch license will likely require modification, but Coleman said the FAA may be able to first complete a public safety determination, finding that there were no flaws in critical safety systems on the March launch that would have endangered the safety of the uninvolved public. If so, “that would decouple the mishap investigation from the license modification, and that means that we could get the license modification done while the mishap investigation is ongoing.”^[25] However, both are still needed in order for a launch license to be granted. ^[26]

• SpaceX Starship flight tests