SpaceX called off the launch of its 12th Starship test flight from Texas just minutes before liftoff, delaying the highly anticipated debut of the upgraded Starship Version 3 rocket. The uncrewed mission was expected to mark a major milestone for Elon Musk's space company, as Starship V3 includes dozens of upgrades designed to improve reliability, payload deployment, and rapid reusability.
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According to reports from Starbase, SpaceX fully fueled the massive launch vehicle during the countdown before engineers halted the mission due to last-minute technical concerns. Early reports indicated issues related to fuel temperature and pressure readings, while later updates pointed to a malfunction involving a hydraulic pin on the launch tower arm system.
Live webcast of Starship's twelfth flight test starts now https://t.co/vwvur0GZdD
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) May 21, 2026
The rocket is central to SpaceX's plans for expanding its Starlink satellite network and supporting future NASA lunar missions. SpaceX is reportedly targeting a valuation of $1.75 trillion for the historic public listing, as per Reuters.
The high-stakes test flight was meant to debut the Starship Version 3 (V3) design, which engineers spent months overhauling and redesigning following a series of high-profile launch failures last year.
Standing down from today's flight test
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) May 21, 2026
"If that can be fixed tonight, there will be another launch attempt tomorrow at 5:30 CT," SpaceX CEO Elon Musk stated on social media, referring to the faulty mechanical arm that grounded the megarocket.
The fully reusable Starship vehicle, which SpaceX has spent more than $15 billion developing, represents the cornerstone of Musk's long-term commercial blueprint.
Prior to Thursday's scrubbed launch attempt, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk sought to temper expectations regarding a potential failure, reassuring observers that the company's manufacturing pipeline is robust enough to absorb a setback.
"There is a large pipeline of V3 ships and boosters in the factory," Musk stated.
He emphasized that an in-flight failure would not severely disrupt the company's aggressive operational timeline, noting that such an outcome would likely not delay the cadence of future Starship test launches "by more than a month or so."
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