SpaceX Starship V3 completes orbital refuel demo, paves way for crewed lunar mission

SpaceX completed the first successful orbital propellant transfer demonstration with Starship V3 on Wednesday, transferring 10 tonnes of liquid oxygen between two vehicles in low Earth orbit — a manoeuvre that is essential for the architecture NASA has selected for its Artemis lunar landing programme.

The test, which was not publicly announced in advance, was confirmed by NASA and SpaceX in a joint statement. It represents the resolution of what mission planners had identified as the programme’s single largest remaining technical risk.