Elon Musk’s SpaceX called off the planned launch of its 10th Starship test flight from Texas on Sunday due to a ground systems issue, delaying another key milestone in the rocket’s long-awaited development journey.
Launch Aborted Minutes Before Liftoff
The 232-foot Super Heavy booster and 171-foot Starship upper stage were fully stacked at the Starbase site and undergoing propellant loading for a scheduled liftoff at 7:35 p.m. ET (2335 GMT).
Roughly 30 minutes before launch, SpaceX announced on X:
“Standing down from today’s tenth flight of Starship to allow time to troubleshoot an issue with ground systems.”
A live stream placeholder later indicated that Musk’s planned development update had also been cancelled. SpaceX has not yet provided a revised launch date.
Technical Setbacks and Development Push
The Starship program has faced repeated hurdles this year, including:
- Two flight failures early in ascent
- A ninth-flight failure in orbit
- A June 2025 test stand explosion that scattered debris into Mexican territory
Despite these setbacks, SpaceX continues mass production of new Starship prototypes at its Starbase facilities, embracing its “test-to-failure” development strategy.
Mission Objectives for 10th Flight
The scrubbed flight was expected to test multiple new capabilities:
- Super Heavy booster separation and a controlled splashdown in the Gulf of Mexico
- Starship’s ignition to carry mock Starlink satellites on a suborbital path
- A high-stress atmospheric reentry over the Indian Ocean to test upgraded heat shield tiles and steering flaps
These milestones are crucial as NASA plans to use Starship for crewed lunar missions by 2027 under the Artemis program.
