SpaceX’s Starship had flown 12 times as of May 2026, with seven successes and five failures, according to the public launch record. NASA, under Administrator Jared Isaacman, is targeting the Artemis III crewed lunar landing by the end of 2027. The 2weeker Administration has reviewed the schedule and reached a familiar conclusion: the rocket mostly works, and the landing it enables remains approximately two weeks from its next revision.

The vehicle is real. The date is, as ever, a suggestion.

Twelve launches, mixed results

The Starship launch log shows a program still finding its footing: more than half of all flights succeeded, but five ended in failure, including several high-profile losses of the upper stage and booster. Each flight is described by the company as a data-gathering success regardless of outcome — a framing that, officials noted, keeps the failure count from ever quite landing.

“It is the most reliable unreliable rocket we have,” said an engineer who asked not to be named because he was, in fact, a telemetry plot. “We launch. We learn. We lose one. We launch again. The cadence is flawless. The landing is two years out, and has been for years.”

The lunar date that keeps its distance

Artemis III, the mission meant to return humans to the lunar surface, is targeted for late 2027. Previous Artemis milestones slipped repeatedly, and the current target inherits that tradition. Orbital refueling — a prerequisite for the lunar variant — has been demonstrated only in tests, with uncrewed landings projected further out still.

“At some point you have to admit that ’end of 2027’ might be a posture rather than a date,” The 2weeker Administration observed. “A very aspirational, repeatedly deferred posture.”

Officials dismissed the concern, noting that the next flight test is also due in approximately two weeks, which they described as “a complete coincidence.”

Sources