The tenth integrated flight test of SpaceX’s Starship, the spacecraft designed for future missions to the Moon and Mars, was scrubbed due to a technical problem. At the company’s Starbase launch site near Boca Chica, Texas, the countdown was halted “to allow teams to work on a ground systems issue,” SpaceX stated in a post on X.
The company subsequently announced on its website that a new launch attempt for the test is now scheduled for August 26 at 1:30 a.m. Italian time. A press conference that CEO Elon Musk was expected to hold around midnight Italian time was also canceled, mirroring the events of the May 27th test.
The authorization for this tenth test had been granted after investigations were completed into the loss of the capsule during the ninth flight test on May 27 and the explosion of a vehicle during a ground test in mid-June.
Starship is the launch system comprising the Super Heavy rocket and the Starship spacecraft. The objectives for the tenth test include the Super Heavy booster providing flight performance data, releasing the spacecraft, and—unlike previous tests—performing a controlled splashdown at a specific point in the Gulf of Mexico instead of returning to the launch pad. The spacecraft itself is programmed to release eight Starlink satellite simulators during its flight before it too splashes down.
On its website, Elon Musk’s company stated, “Flight tests continue to provide invaluable lessons for the design of the next generation of Starship and Super Heavy vehicles. With increased production at the Starfactory within Starbase and the construction of new launch and test infrastructure in Texas and Florida, Starship is ready to continue the path to becoming a rapidly and fully reusable launch system.”