SpaceX on Thursday scrapped the launch of its 12th Starship rocket from Texas and rescheduled it for Friday due to a fault in one of the launch tower's giant mechanical arms. The setback occurred as Elon Musk's space company gears up for a record-breaking public listing, aiming for a valuation of $1.75 trillion. The fully reusable Starship is vital to Musk's mission of reducing launch costs and pursuing ambitious goals, including the expansion of his Starlink satellite business and deep-space exploration.
The SpaceX Starship spacecraft sits atop the Super Heavy Booster, ahead of the 12th test flight of the Starship spacecraft in Starbase, Texas, U.S., May 21, 2026.
REUTERS/Steve Nesius May 21 - SpaceX on Thursday scrubbed the launch of its 12th Starship rocket from Texas and said it will attempt the high-stakes test flight again on Friday, as Elon Musk's space company nears a record-breaking public listing. Starship V3, uncrewed and featuring dozens of upgrades tailored for rapid Starlink satellite launches and NASA moon missions, was to be a key test for the vehicle following months of testing delays.
It is also poised to affect investor confidence ahead of what might be the biggest initial public offering in history, where SpaceX is targeting a valuation of $1.75 trillion. SpaceX had spent months redesigning Starship after a streak of failures last year, culminating in the V3 design that was meant to launch on Thursday. It called off Thursday's launch seconds before its planned liftoff, after multiple pauses to the countdown triggered by fuel temperature and pressure readings.
Musk said on X that the a hydraulic pin on one of the launch tower's giant mechanical arms did not retract as designed.
"If that can be fixed tonight, there will be another launch attempt tomorrow at 5:30 CT," Musk said of the faulty arm. The fully reusable Starship, which SpaceX has spent more than $15 billion developing, is key to Musk's goals of cutting launch costs, expanding his Starlink satellite business and pursuing ambitions ranging from deep-space exploration to orbital data centers - all factored in to his IPO valuation.
Before the launch attempt on Thursday, Musk sought to temper expectations in case of failure, saying,"There is a large pipeline of V3 ships and boosters in the factory.
" He said a failure would not affect the cadence of future Starship test launches"by more than a month or so. " SpaceX's engineering culture, considered more risk-tolerant than many of the aerospace industry's more established players, is built on a flight-testing strategy that pushes newly developed spacecraft to the point of failure, then fine-tunes improvements through frequent repetition.
Spacex Starship Rocket Launch Delay Hydraulic Issue Record-Breaking IPO Starlink Satellite Deep-Space Exploration Orbital Data Centers Elon Musk Validation Runs
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