SpaceX scrubs Starship flight 10 at Starbase. Here’s why, and what happens next

SpaceX did not end up launching its gigantic Starship spacecraft on schedule, but Elon Musk’s rocket company is not ready long to strive again.

The 400-foot Starship rocket, which SpaceX is developing for crewed journey to Mars, was vertical on the launch pad and being fueled up for an imminent takeoff from South Texas before the industrial spaceflight company opted to scrub the launch. In a post on social media website X, which Musk owns, SpaceX attributed the choice to “an issue with ground systems.”

Fortunately for the billionaire tech mogul, whose company has confronted a sequence of explosive setbacks in Starship’s development in 2025, the delay would not seem to be lasting long. SpaceX will soon attempt to launch the vehicle for the tenth time in more than two years on an uncrewed check mission it merely refers to as flight 10.

Here’s every part to know about the Starship scrub, and when SpaceX may attempt to launch the spacecraft again.

What occurred with the Starship launch? SpaceX postpones check in Texas

Starship was scheduled to get off the ground at 6:30 p.m. CT on Aug. 24 at SpaceX’s Starbase headquarters close to the U.S.-Mexico border, which Texas voters in Cameron County authorised in May to turn out to be a metropolis.

Everything appeared to be on monitor for Starship to launch on time as SpaceX started fueling up the large spacecraft before the company announced that it had called off the mission practically quarter-hour before liftoff.

SpaceX had a quantity of targets for flight 10.

During three separate Starship launches since October, SpaceX has confirmed it is succesful of returning and “catching” the large spacecraft’s rocket booster at the so-called “mechazilla” tower at the launch pad utilizing a pair of mechanical arms nicknamed “chopsticks.”

This time around, the rocket company deliberate to flip its consideration elsewhere: safely returning and touchdown the vehicle’s higher stage — recognized as Starship, or Ship — where a crew of astronauts would in the future experience to space.

SpaceX also had plans to deploy eight check Starlink satellites anticipated to burn up in Earth’s environment upon re-entry — an goal called off on three earlier launches. SpaceX moreover deliberate to reignite its Raptor engines in space to attempt an orbital burn, a essential maneuver to ground a vehicle.

For the second time in a row, SpaceX had no plans to get well the booster, recognized as Super Heavy. Instead, the company has again sought to push Super Heavy’s efficiency past what has been tried.

The booster was supposed to attempt a number of in-flight experiments before making a water touchdown off the Gulf of Mexico, renamed by the U.S. authorities as the Gulf of America.

When may SpaceX launch Starship on flight 10?

SpaceX’s web site signifies the company is working toward a Starship launch as early as 6:30 p.m. CT Monday, Aug. 25.

A Federal Aviation Administration operations plan advisory confirms that launch windown and also signifies that backup alternatives stay obtainable the next day if the mission is scrubbed again.

Scheduled check comes after high-profile Starship explosions

The flight check was beforehand delayed on June 18 when the Starship vehicle SpaceX assigned to the next flight, designated Ship 36, unexpectedly exploded while SpaceX was getting ready it for launch. No one was harm in the incident, which occurred as the Starship spacecraft was standing alone on the check stand being crammed with cryogenic propellants for an engine test-firing before being mounted on top of the rocket booster.

The mishap, which SpaceX later referred to on its web site as “a sudden energetic event,” destroyed the spacecraft and ignited a number of fires that triggered injury in the realm surrounding the check stand.

The explosion was the latest fiery mishap SpaceX’s Starship has encountered during – and, now, before – its flight assessments in 2025.

Starship’s most current demonstration got here on May 27, when the spacecraft spun out of control roughly midway through its flight and disintegrated in a fireball. Though Starship was unable to obtain its most important targets, the space the vehicle traveled far surpassed the earlier 2025 flights in January and March, when Starship exploded within minutes.

But Starship, which has yet to attain orbit in any of its flight assessments since the first in April 2023, has failed to replicate the successes of earlier flights in 2024.

What is Starship? SpaceX develops rocket for missions to moon, Mars

SpaceX has turn out to be recognized for its risk-tolerant philosophy when it comes to Starship’s development. Musk has confused that fast and frequent testing, which sometimes leads to explosive ends, can still present data that helps engineers improve the vehicle’s design.

SpaceX is developing Starship to be a totally reusable transportation system, which means the rocket and vehicle can return to the ground for extra missions.

In the years forward, Starship is set to serve a pivotal position in future U.S. spaceflight. Starship is the centerpiece of Musk’s imaginative and prescient of sending the first people to Mars, and is also important in NASA’s plans to (*10*)return astronauts to the moon’s floor.

Musk goals to ship the first uncrewed Starship to Mars in 2026. NASA, meanwhile, has designs on utilizing Starship to ferry Artemis III astronauts from orbit to the lunar floor as early as 2027.

Trump, FAA hand SpaceX big wins

As Musk seeks to ramp up development of the Mars-bound spacecraft, the usgovernment has handed SpaceX a few key wins in 2025.

Most just lately, President Donald Trump signed earlier in August an govt order aimed at rolling back federal rules on industrial spaceflight corporations – a signal that non-public sector rocket corporations like SpaceX stay essential to U.S. spaceflight ambitions, even after a public falling out between Trump and Musk.

The transfer got here a few months after the Federal Aviation Administration, which licenses industrial rocket launches, gave approval in May for SpaceX to conduct as many as 25 Starship check flights a yr. Starship launched just 4 occasions in 2024.

How big is Starship?

The Starship, standing 403 toes tall when totally stacked, is regarded as the world’s largest and most highly effective launch vehicle ever developed. When totally built-in, the launch system is composed of both a 232-foot Super Heavy rocket and the 171-foot higher stage Starship itself, the spacecraft where crew and cargo would experience.

Super Heavy alone is powered by 33 of SpaceX’s Raptor engines that give the initial burst of thrust at liftoff. The higher stage Starship part is powered by six Raptor engines that will finally journey in orbit.

Eric Lagatta is the Space Connect reporter for the USA TODAY Network. Reach him at elagatta@gannett.com

This article initially appeared on Corpus Christi Caller Times: We have new date for next Starship rocket launch after SpaceX scrub