SpaceX's highly anticipated Starship launch faced a last-minute setback on Monday, as technical problems forced mission controllers to call off the attempt just 40 seconds before liftoff. The mega rocket, standing at an impressive 403 feet (123 meters), was poised for a dramatic comeback following an explosion during its last test flight.
The exact nature of the issue was not immediately disclosed, but SpaceX engineers quickly stepped in to assess the problem. Starship, the world's largest and most powerful rocket, is central to Elon Musk's SpaceX ambitious plans for deep-space exploration, including future missions to Mars.
Starship was supposed to blast off from the southern tip of Texas with four mock satellites on board for a space-skimming test flight. If the problems can be fixed quickly, another launch attempt could come Tuesday, according to SpaceX. The last Starship demo ended in an explosion over the Atlantic in January, with flaming debris streaming over the Turks and Caicos. NASA has already booked Starship for astronaut moon landings later this decade.
Elon Musk's reaction
"Standing down from today’s flight test attempt. Starship team is determining the next best available opportunity to fly," read a post on X by SpaceX. Reacting to it, Elon Musk said, "Too many question marks about this flight and then we were 20 bar low on ground spin start pressure. Best to destack, inspect both stages and try again in a day or two."
SpaceX launch accident likely caused by fire
In January, SpaceX suspected a fire may have caused its Starship to break apart during liftoff and send trails of flaming debris near the Caribbean. Musk said preliminary indications were that leaking fuel built up pressure in the cavity above the engine firewall. The resulting fire would have doomed the spacecraft.
The 400-foot Starship, the world's biggest and most powerful rocket, was launched from the southern tip of Texas on a test flight on January 16. The booster made it back to the pad for a catch by giant mechanical arms, only the second time in Starship history. But the engines on the still-ascending spacecraft shut down one by one, and communication was lost 8 1/2 minutes into the flight.
(With inputs from agencies)