SpaceX scrubs tenth starship test flight amid persistent setbacks
The launch, scheduled for 7:30 p.m. ET from the company’s Starbase facility in Boca Chica, Texas, was set to be the tenth integrated test flight of the two-stage vehicle.
After three consecutive in-flight failures, SpaceX was poised Sunday evening for another high-stakes test of its giant Super Heavy-Starship rocket only to call it off at the last minute due to ground system issues.
The launch, scheduled for 7:30 p.m. ET from the company’s Starbase facility in Boca Chica, Texas, was set to be the tenth integrated test flight of the two-stage vehicle.
But just as liquid oxygen and methane propellant were being loaded into the 40-story-tall rocket, SpaceX announced a scrub, citing unspecified technical concerns with the launch infrastructure.
“Standing down from today’s tenth flight of Starship to allow time to troubleshoot an issue with ground systems,” the company said in a brief post on X, offering no details or indication of when another attempt might be made.
The test flight was expected to trial several key upgrades following a string of setbacks earlier this year. Plans called for the Super Heavy booster generating more than 16 million pounds of thrust to lift Starship out of the dense atmosphere before separating and descending for a controlled splashdown in the Gulf of Mexico.
Unlike previous attempts, engineers had deliberately planned to disable one of its three central landing engines to test whether backup systems could compensate during the final burn.
The Starship upper stage, meanwhile, was slated to embark on a suborbital trajectory, attempt an in-space engine restart, and re-enter over the Indian Ocean for another controlled splashdown. It was also due to carry eight Starlink satellite simulators.
Despite incremental progress in 2024, SpaceX has endured a series of dramatic failures, including explosions caused by propellant leaks, onboard fires, and structural damage during reentry. Out of nine previous integrated test flights, four ended catastrophically.
The pressure on SpaceX is mounting. The Super Heavy-Starship system is central to Elon Musk’s vision of colonizing Mars and deploying thousands of next-generation satellites.
More immediately, it underpins NASA’s $3 billion contract for a modified Starship to land Artemis astronauts on the Moon by 2027. But the mission architecture requires 10 to 20 successful launches to refuel the lander in orbit a feat many analysts consider unrealistic within the current timeline.
Compounding concerns, China has announced its own plans to send astronauts to the lunar surface by 2030, potentially overtaking the United States in a modern space race.
With each delay, questions grow about whether SpaceX and NASA can meet their ambitious goals, or whether Starship’s promise will remain grounded by engineering reality.
