Payam Javan: SpaceX called off the launch of its tenth Starship mission on Sunday evening, citing an issue with ground systems at its Texas-based Starbase facility. The 232-foot Super Heavy booster and its 171-foot Starship upper stage were stacked and fueled ahead of a planned 7:35 p.m. ET liftoff, but the company announced on X about 30 minutes before launch that it would “stand down” to troubleshoot the problem. Elon Musk was expected to provide a development update ahead of the flight, but the livestream was also canceled.

The highly anticipated test was meant to achieve several new milestones for Starship’s development, including booster separation, a Gulf of Mexico water landing, and a suborbital flight of the upper stage to deploy mock Starlink satellites before attempting a high-stress atmospheric reentry over the Indian Ocean. These tests are crucial for demonstrating Starship’s reusability, improved thrust, and advanced heat shield capabilities—features central to Musk’s long-term ambitions of deep-space travel and NASA’s plans to use the rocket for a crewed Moon landing by 2027.

The scrub marks another delay in what has been a turbulent year for SpaceX’s next-generation rocket program. Earlier flights ended in early failures, including mid-flight explosions, a major stand accident in June that scattered debris into Mexico, and a failed ninth flight attempt in space. Despite setbacks, SpaceX continues to rapidly build new Starship prototypes at its sprawling South Texas site, underscoring the company’s commitment to its “test-to-failure” approach in pursuit of making Starship the world’s most powerful—and reusable—launch system.