SpaceX calls off launch of new Starship prototype

SpaceX canceled the launch of its newest Starship prototype, V3, in the final seconds of Thursday’s countdown after detecting a problem with a launch tower component at its Starbase facility in southern Texas. The issue prompted multiple holds, forcing flight controllers to scrub the attempt without setting a new date, though Elon Musk suggested a potential Friday retry if repairs are completed quickly. The test was the first flight for V3, a larger and more powerful version of Starship designed to be fully reusable. Standing at 408 feet tall, the rocket was fully fueled for a suborbital mission that would have included deploying 22 mock Starlink satellites and relighting an upper-stage engine in space. The flight was intended to last about 65 minutes, with the booster landing in the Gulf of Mexico and the upper stage splashing down in the Indian Ocean. NASA is closely monitoring Starship’s development, as the rocket is a candidate for landing astronauts on the moon under the Artemis program. SpaceX and Blue Origin are both building lunar landers for NASA’s planned 2028 mission, with a potential orbital test in late 2024. The latest redesigns to Starship include additional engines on both the Super Heavy booster and upper stage, increasing total thrust to around 18 million pounds, along with structural and propellant tank upgrades. SpaceX has previously demonstrated catching the Super Heavy booster with mechanical arms, but this test would have marked the first attempt to recover the upper stage similarly. The company also announced plans to send cryptocurrency entrepreneur Chun Wang on a future Mars mission, though details remain unclear. Meanwhile, SpaceX filed for an IPO that could make Elon Musk a trillionaire while retaining 85% voting control over the company.