SpaceX scrubs Starship V3 launch after tower arm jam

SpaceX scrubs – SpaceX scrubbed the first launch of its third-generation Starship from Starbase, Texas, after a countdown recycle near liftoff triggered by a launch tower arm issue. The company plans another attempt Friday at 5:30 p.m. local time if the problem can be fixed t

The countdown seemed close enough to feel—then it didn’t.

SpaceX scrubbed the first launch of its third-generation Starship rocket system from its headquarters in Starbase. Texas. and the company is expected to make another attempt on Friday. The launch was set to be Starship’s 12th. and it would have marked the first flight of Starship since the company’s last attempt in October 2025.

SpaceX pushed back the Thursday liftoff multiple times. eventually aiming to send the rocket toward space near the end of its expected launch window. Starship and its massive rocket booster were fully fueled, and the countdown dipped under T-40 seconds. But issues with the various rocket and launchpad systems forced SpaceX to recycle the countdown multiple times.

The specific problem SpaceX pointed to came from its launch tower hardware. SpaceX CEO Elon Musk wrote on X that the “hydraulic pin holding the [launch] tower arm in place did not retract.” He added that the company would try again on Friday at 5:30 p.m. local time if the issue “can be fixed tonight.”.

This flight carries extra weight inside SpaceX right now, even beyond the pure technical milestone. The company recently filed for an IPO and is expected to go public within weeks. With that timeline looming. the first real test of the upgraded Starship V3 hardware is more than a checkmark—it’s a public proof point of momentum.

It’s also a program still carrying baggage from earlier V3 work. SpaceX has spent the interim months developing and testing this third version of Starship, and it has encountered problems along the way. In November, one of the first V3 boosters suffered an explosion during testing.

The hardware being tested is meant to be a step change. SpaceX says changes in vehicle design and launchpad infrastructure are part of why Starship V3 should be easier to manage and. ultimately. more reliable. One of the bigger changes is the third-generation Raptor engines, designed to put more thrust in a streamlined configuration. SpaceX also says the third-gen Starship booster is supposed to be easier for the launch tower to catch and has one fewer grid fin.

Reliability upgrades extend beyond catch-and-release mechanics. SpaceX says the new design is meant to stop leaking propellant from building up inside certain sections of the Starship upper stage—an issue that has shown up on multiple previous Starship test flights. The broader goal is to make the entire vehicle totally reusable, similar to the company’s workhorse rocket, Falcon 9.

But even if Starship V3 launches on Friday, this particular mission is not intended to close every chapter. SpaceX is not trying to recover the booster or the Starship vehicle itself. Both are expected to perform “soft landings” in the water: the booster in the Atlantic Ocean and Starship in the Indian Ocean.

And the rocket won’t be going to a true Earth orbit. SpaceX says Starship will still have to wait another mission or two to prove that the upper stage can deliver commercial payloads.

There’s a human rhythm to all of this—one that’s easy to miss when the headlines move fast. A rocket can be fully fueled. the clock can dip under T-40 seconds. and then an issue that’s as specific as a hydraulic pin that won’t retract can send engineers back to the beginning of the checklist. In this moment. the stakes are technical and financial at the same time. and SpaceX is trying to show progress fast enough for its next chapter—while working through the stubborn realities of hardware. countdowns. and launchpad systems.

SpaceX Starship V3 Starbase Elon Musk Raptor engines launch scrub IPO Starlink revenue hydraulic pin launch tower arm