SpaceX cancelled the planned tenth test flight of its Starship megarocket just 15 minutes before liftoff in Texas, citing a liquid oxygen leak in ground systems. The launch has been rescheduled for as early as Monday evening.
The mission aimed to test Starship’s upper stage with a splashdown in the Indian Ocean, without attempting the rocket-catching manoeuvre used in past trials. Recent Starship tests have suffered explosions and fuel leaks, raising concerns about its reliability despite SpaceX’s rapid prototyping approach.
The setbacks cast doubt on Elon Musk’s ambitious goal of sending missions to Mars by 2026, though Starship remains central to NASA’s Artemis programme to return astronauts to the Moon.