NASA completes Super Heavy V3 wind tunnel tests for Artemis III
NASA and SpaceX finished wind tunnel tests on a scale model of the Super Heavy V3 booster behind the Artemis III lander.
what happened
NASA said engineers at Ames Research Center completed transonic (Mach 0.2-1.4) and supersonic (Mach 1.55-2.5) wind tunnel tests on a 1.2%-scale model of SpaceX's Super Heavy Version 3 booster in late 2025, gathering steady and unsteady aerodynamic force data for re-entry. Marshall Space Flight Center engineer Manish Mehta said the data "helps predict how the rocket will react to forces in the atmosphere during re-entry so the flight software can effectively guide the rocket during flight." The work builds on earlier Ames testing from 2024.
why it matters
Super Heavy V3 and the corresponding Starship variant are expected to form the basis of the Human Landing System for Artemis III, targeted for 2027, and a crewed lunar landing targeted for 2028; the completed test campaign is a dated step in qualifying that hardware ahead of NASA's own schedule.
for who
Artemis program suppliers and lunar-lander subcontractors