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.
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.
"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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