Elon Musk’s SpaceX postponed the 12th uncrewed test flight of its Starship rocket, the debut of a redesigned vehicle, Starship V3, on Thursday (local time), as the hydraulic pin holding the tower arm did not retract. The centi-billionaire said that if the issue is resolved soon, SpaceX will try another launch on Friday (local time).
The Starship liftoff was scheduled for 6:30 pm CT (Thursday, local time) — 5:00 am (Friday, IST), from SpaceX’s Starbase facility in South Texas. However, minute-by-minute delay eventually led to the postponement of the launch.
The launch was already rescheduled once from 4:00 am IST.
SpaceX CEO Elon Musk said after the delay, “Failure today will not affect the schedule by more than a month or so.”
Following the postponement of the highly anticipated launch, SpaceX said it will give the Starship launch another try on Friday (local time).
“The hydraulic pin holding the tower arm in place did not retract. If that can be fixed tonight, there will be another launch attempt tomorrow at 5:30 CT,” Musk added.
Starship spacecraft and the Super Heavy rocket, collectively referred to as Starship, represent a fully reusable transportation system designed to carry both crew and cargo to Earth orbit, the Moon, Mars, and beyond.
Starship is said to be the world’s most powerful launch vehicle ever developed, designed to carry over 100 metric tonnes to orbit in a fully reusable configuration.
Starship, when fully stacked together, stands over 400 feet tall.
What’s so special about this Starship V3?
SpaceX has so far launched two versions of the Starship rocket. For most of 2025, Starship’s test flights using Version 2 of the rocket experienced repeated failures, explosions or other malfunctions during flight.
Elon Musk’s space firm has also demonstrated the ability to “catch” the Super Heavy booster after a few flights at the vehicle’s launch tower, but the company has yet to try to recover the entire rocket system as is.
Starship’s Version 3 is supposed to be optimised for being reusable, and Musk has predicted that SpaceX could achieve full reusability with the Starship rocket before the end of 2026.
V3 is enabled with new features designed to support future missions to the Moon and Mars, posing a key test for the spacecraft ahead of SpaceX’s debut IPO that is targeting a valuation of $1.75 trillion.
Starship V3 will also debut the upgraded Raptor main engines, designed to provide considerably more thrust at liftoff and increase the rocket’s capability, Bloomberg reported.
The Raptor engine is a reusable methane-oxygen staged-combustion engine that powers the Starship and has twice the thrust of the Falcon 9 Merlin engine.
Starship V3 launch
At liftoff of Starship’s 12th test flight, the Super Heavy booster will ignite its 33 main Raptor engines and send Starship to space, where it will reportedly reach near orbital speeds as it nearly circles the globe.
Eventually, the Super Heavy booster will separate from the Starship and then return to Earth, where it will attempt to splash down in the Gulf of Mexico.
In space, Starship will attempt several tests, including the deployment of 20 dummy Starlink satellites, designed to mimic future payloads.
The Starship will also reportedly release two specialised satellites to test the new Starlink hardware and scan the rocket’s heat shield. However, all of the satellites should fall back to Earth, burning up in the atmosphere.
Starship is scheduled to splash down in the Indian Ocean about an hour after liftoff.
