SpaceX Shuttles Staff to Brownsville Before Starship Flight 12 Launch

SpaceX flew its Boeing 737-800, tail number N154TS, from Los Angeles International Airport to Brownsville South Padre Island International Airport on May 10, 2026. The 2-hour-56-minute flight carried employees from the company's Hawthorne headquarters to its Starbase facility near Boca Chica, Texas, reaching a maximum altitude of 37,025 feet.

The timing aligns with preparations for Starship Flight 12, targeted for launch as early as May 12, per a NASASpaceflight update on May 7. This test will debut the more powerful Version 3 Super Heavy booster, as reported by Space.com earlier this week, marking another step in SpaceX's push toward reusable orbital flight amid ongoing FAA scrutiny.

Such shuttles are routine for SpaceX, with N154TS logging three weekly round trips between Los Angeles and Brownsville, plus occasional jaunts to Washington, Orlando, Savannah, and Victorville. Recent flights on May 9 and May 6 followed the same route, underscoring the steady personnel flow to support Starship development—a grey jet slicing through the sky, antennas aglow, for the unglamorous work of spaceflight.