SpaceX's first Starship V3 vehicle launches on a test flight on May 22, 2026. (Image credit: SpaceX) SpaceX's next-gen Starship megarocket finally got off the ground last week. On May 22, SpaceX's first Starship V3 ("Version 3") vehicle lifted off from a brand-new pad at the company's Starbase site in South Texas. It was the first Starship launch in more than seven months, a lag caused by the time it took to develop and incorporate V3's many upgrades over its predecessors. (The destruction of a V3 Super Heavy booster during testing in November didn't help, either.) Though Starship V3 suffered a few engine glitches on May 22, and its Super Heavy booster didn't steer itself down for a soft ocean splashdown as planned, SpaceX heralded the suborbital test flight as a success. That's a big deal, because V3 is expected to carry a heavy load for the company, and for NASA, in the coming years. Great expectations The 408-foot-tall (124.4 meters) Starship V3 is the biggest and most powerful iteration of Starship yet.…