The Ground system is planning the first launch of SpaceX’s Starship V3 rocket

SpaceX got within 40 seconds of launching the first version of its long, high-powered Starship rocket on Thursday, but a major problem with the launch platform kept the vehicle from reaching Earth for another day.

Clouds and rain showers cleared the area around the SpaceX launch site in South Texas, leaving mostly sunny skies Thursday afternoon. SpaceX pushed back the launch time by an hour, but the countdown seemed to be on track as the propellants began to enter the rocket.

This was true, until the countdown clock stopped 40 seconds before take off. The opening team tried repeatedly to restart the countdown, only to have the computer controlling the start stop the clock again. There were five in total before SpaceX stopped the launch attempt.

“It sounds like we’re not going to be able to resolve this issue in time for today, so we’re going to hold off on the launch,” said Dan Huot, SpaceX’s chief operating officer, on Thursday. We packed our luggage in the car.

Elon Musk, founder and CEO of SpaceX, said the scrub was caused by a hydraulic pin that failed to retract on the umbilical arm connecting the launch platform to the rocket. “If this can be launched tonight, there will be another launch test tomorrow,” Musk wrote on X. The 90-minute window on Friday will open at 5:30 pm CDT (22:30 UTC).

The upcoming Starship test flight will be the first flight from the new launch site at Starbase, Texas, a year-old city that includes SpaceX’s South Texas test site near the US-Mexico border. It will be the 12th test flight of all the Starship and Super Heavy boosters to date, and the first to use the design developed by SpaceX calls Starship Version 3. Starship V3 introduces many changes, including 39 more efficient, high-performance Raptor engines, a redesigned engine, and three small refrigerators that refresh. permanently attached to the top of the Super Heavy booster.