SpaceX scrubs 12th Starship test flight after launch tower issue
SpaceX is preparing to launch Starship on its 12th test flight overall and first since October.
SpaceX successfully launched the 10th flight test of its Starship spacecraft from its Starbase facility in Texas on Aug. 26.
SpaceX’s first attempt to launch its Starship rocket from southeast Texas after an eight-month hiatus ended in a scrub Thursday evening.
The company, led by Elon Musk, had planned for the 12th flight of Starship and the Super Heavy booster to lift off Thursday, May 21, following upgrades to the rocket, booster and launch facility. The previous Starship test flight, Flight 11, launched on Oct. 13, 2025.
Musk said the issue involved a launch tower arm attached to the rocket. If the arm can be repaired, SpaceX will try again Friday at 5:30 p.m. CT.
When it happens, the upcoming mission will debut the next-generation Starship and Super Heavy as well as upgrades to the Raptor rocket engines.
Booster 19, or ''B19,'' is seen atop pad 2 at SpaceX's South Texas facility in Cameron County, Texas, ahead of an igniter test on April 13, 2026. (Photo by Reginald Mathalone/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
The launch will take place from the Starbase launch site in Boca Chica, Texas. A livestream of the liftoff will be available on X about 30 minutes before launch.
Unlike previous test flights, the booster will not return to the launch site for a catch attempt because this is the “first flight test of a significantly redesigned vehicle,” the company said. Instead, the booster will conduct a water landing in the Gulf.
Starship has several test objectives, including the deployment of 22 Starlink simulator satellites. The vehicle will also complete a water landing if everything goes according to plan.
The nosecone of an unfinished rocket is visible through a window at SpaceX's South Texas production facility in Cameron County, Texas, on April 12, 2026. (Photo by Reginald Mathalone/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
Each test flight is important as SpaceX works toward using Starship as a human landing system for NASA’s Artemis program. NASA has selected Starship as one of the vehicles intended to help return astronauts to the moon with Artemis IV now expected to attempt the first crewed lunar landing of the program.
In April, NASA completed Artemis II, its first human lunar flyby mission under the Artemis program. Artemis III is now expected to focus on testing docking and lander-related operations in Earth orbit before a future lunar landing attempt.
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