SpaceX scrubs 10th test flight of Starship megarocket after ground systems trouble

SpaceX aborted a planned test flight of its Starship rocket on Sunday night, halting the countdown just minutes before liftoff due to a problem with ground systems.

The scrub added to a series of setbacks for Elon Musk’s giant rocket, which has suffered repeated failures in recent months.

The launch had been scheduled for 6:30 pm local time at SpaceX’s Starbase facility in southern Texas, near Brownsville. Propellant loading had just begun when the company called it off.

Standing down from today's tenth flight of Starship to allow time to troubleshoot an issue with ground systems

— SpaceX (@SpaceX) August 24, 2025

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“Standing down from today’s tenth flight of Starship to allow time to troubleshoot an issue with ground systems,” SpaceX said.

When it eventually takes off, the 10th test flight will be a pivotal step for Musk’s ambitions to send humans to Mars, and for NASA, which is depending on Starship to ferry astronauts to the lunar surface.

“The stakes are the highest they’ve ever been for a Starship launch,” said Todd Harrison, a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute.

“If they have another failure, they still have more room to continue iterating and trying, but they are running out of room,” Harrison said.

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SpaceX has not announced when the rocket will fly next. If engineers resolve the issue quickly, the company could make another attempt Monday evening, with a one-hour launch window opening at 7:30 pm Eastern.