Elon Musk’s SpaceX calls of Starship test flight last minute due to unidentified issue

Elon Musk’s SpaceX called off the latest test flight of its Starship rocket just ahead of its scheduled launch on Monday, citing an unspecified problem with the massive spacecraft.

In a post on X, SpaceX said, “Standing down from today’s flight test attempt. Starship team is determining the next best available opportunity to fly.” The test flight had been called off due to an unidentified issue with its core ship which was discovered 40 second before lift-off, causing employees to investigate the issue, according to reports. The launch was being livestreamed as well.

This would have been the eighth Starship test flight to test the company rockets abilities in managing mock Starlink satellites in space.

This would also have been the first Starship launch since a mission in January ended eight minutes into the flight, as the top half of the rocket exploded above the Caribbean, causing fiery debris to rain down over the Turks and Caicos.

Starship’s ambitious plans of space exploration and resettling Mars are dependent on SpaceX’s ability to prove the rocket is safe for crewed missions as well. Pending a review of the incident, the FAA had said on Friday that Starship could return to the flight launch before the “mishap investigation” was finalised and concluded.

During its previous launch, the Space X team has successfully executed the catching of the booster stage using the launch tower’s “chopstick arms.”

A rescheduled launch of the Starship rocket has been officially announced, though SpaceX employee Dan Huot said the company could try to launch again at the same time on Tuesday, depending on the issue.