Starship V3 – SpaceX came within 40 seconds of launching Starship Version 3 from Starbase, Texas, only to have the countdown repeatedly paused due to a ground-system issue tied to a hydraulic pin on the launch tower’s umbilical arm. Elon Musk says the pin failed to retract,
Clouds cleared over SpaceX’s launch pad in South Texas Thursday afternoon, and for a brief moment everything looked ready for liftoff.
SpaceX pushed the scheduled launch time back by one hour after rain showers moved through, but the countdown appeared to proceed smoothly once propellants began loading into the rocket. Then, 40 seconds before liftoff, the countdown clock paused.
Launch teams tried repeatedly to bring it back up. Each time the computer controlling the launch sequence stopped the clock again. leading to five separate holds before SpaceX decided to call the attempt off. “It is sounding like we are not going to be able to clear this issue in time today. so we are going to be standing down from a launch. ” said Dan Huot. a SpaceX official hosting the company’s live broadcast Thursday. “We got the vehicle totally loaded. We hit a couple of different holds as we worked through that count.”.
Elon Musk later pinned the problem to the launch tower itself. He said the scrub was caused by a hydraulic pin that failed to retract on an umbilical arm connecting the launch tower to the rocket. “If that can be fixed tonight, there will be another launch attempt tomorrow,” Musk wrote on X.
The next opportunity comes Friday, with a 90-minute launch window opening at 5:30 pm CDT (22:30 UTC). That timing matters for the vehicle and for the crewed rhythm of testing: SpaceX had already loaded the rocket and worked through multiple holds. only to hit a point where the sequence could not safely continue.
The flight would have been a milestone for the program. The upcoming Starship test flight will mark the first liftoff from a brand new launch pad at Starbase. Texas. the one-year-old city encompassing SpaceX’s South Texas test site near the US-Mexico border. It will also be the 12th full-scale test flight of Starship and its Super Heavy booster to date. and the first to use an overhauled design SpaceX calls Starship Version 3.
Starship V3 brings a set of changes aimed at making the system more capable. SpaceX says the rocket will use 39 more efficient. higher-thrust Raptor engines. includes a redesigned propulsion system. and relies on three larger grid fins to replace four smaller ones. The company also plans to test a reusable hot staging ring permanently attached to the top of the Super Heavy booster.
For now. the main question is whether the ground system can be corrected quickly enough to let the countdown resume its final stretch—this time without the tower hardware sticking again. If the hydraulic pin issue can be fixed tonight. Friday’s launch window will be the next chance to turn those loaded propellants into a liftoff.
SpaceX Starship V3 Super Heavy Starbase South Texas launch scrub hydraulic pin launch tower Raptor engines grid fins hot staging ring
So basically the tower hiccuped and we all waited? Classic.
Hydraulic pin?? That sounds like a tiny part to mess up the whole thing. I mean they were already loading propellants so what were they doing earlier today…
Hold pauses like 5 times and then they “stand down”… sounds like the pin didn’t retract because the whole system was wet from the rain or something. I don’t buy the tower blame, like Starship is always supposedly “ready” till the last second.
The countdown clock just stopping again and again makes it feel scary honestly. Like if a hydraulic pin can’t move, how are they gonna trust it with people on board later? Also 5:30 window is so specific… are they really gonna nail it tomorrow after “fixed tonight”??