SpaceX lands in Brownsville as Starship V3 prepares for debut flight

SpaceX flew employee shuttle N154TS from Orange County to Brownsville in the early hours of May 21, a 2-hour-54-minute hop that put engineers and technicians on the ground at the company's Starbase facility. The 737-800 touched down at 2:58 a.m. local time, the latest leg in a three-times-a-week shuttle pattern between Southern California and South Texas.

The same week, SpaceX is preparing for the first launch of its Starship Version 3, the largest and most powerful rocket ever built. Flight 12 is scheduled for Thursday evening during a 90-minute window opening at 6:30 p.m. ET, according to a Space.com report. The mission will test a redesigned Super Heavy booster and upper stage, deploy dummy Starlink satellites, and attempt a controlled splashdown in the Indian Ocean.

The shuttle flights have been running daily in both directions since May 16, a significant uptick from the company's typical three-per-week cadence. That surge in personnel movement aligns with the final pre-launch push — a wet dress rehearsal was completed May 20, the rocket was stacked on the pad, and a nearby beach was closed for the countdown rehearsal per live coverage on Space.com.