Series of problems halts SpaceX Starship test flight

By AP 22 May 2026, 3:25 am

Edit

SpaceX's mega rocket Starship is prepared for a test flight that was later delayed, in Starbase, Texas, May 21, 2026. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida — SpaceX got within a half-minute of launching its newest and biggest Starship on a test flight this evening before a cascade of problems halted the countdown.

The 407-foot (124-meter) rocket was poised to begin a space-skimming journey from Texas extending halfway around the world. But issues cropped up with the brand-new pad at Starbase near the Mexican border, and the company ran out of time.

SpaceX CEO Elon Musk later says the hydraulic pin holding the launch tower’s arm in place did not retract. If the problem can be fixed quickly, another launch attempt will be made today, he notes.

Yesterday’s launch attempt came one day after Musk announced that his rocket company would be going public.

Starship holds 20 mock Starlink satellites to be released before the spacecraft’s controlled entry into the Indian Ocean at the end of the hour-long flight. It will be the 12th test flight for a Starship and the first since last fall.

NASA is relying on this latest version of Starship to land astronauts on the moon in a few years.