US private company SpaceX has canceled the 12th test flight of its giant rocket Starship due to technical issues.
The launch was originally scheduled Central Standard Time from the Starbase launch facility in the state of Texas and was delayed 40 seconds before launch time.
SpaceX later announced that the launch would not take place that day. Elon Musk, SpaceX's founder, posted on his social media platform X that the launch was canceled because the hydraulic pin used to secure the launch tower arm failed to retract as planned.
He said the next launch attempt could be made Friday at 5:30 p.m. Central Standard Time if the problem can be resolved overnight.
The mission is scheduled to mark the maiden flight of the next-generation Starship spacecraft and Super Heavy booster rocket, powered by an upgraded version of the Raptor engine and launching from a newly designed pad at Starbase.
According to SpaceX, the primary goal of the flight test was to evaluate the performance of the upgraded system in a real-world flight environment for the first time.
