LOS ANGELES, May 21 (Xinhua) -- U.S. private space company SpaceX on Thursday scrubbed the 12th flight test of its giant Starship rocket due to a technical issue.
The launch, originally scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Central Time (2330 GMT) from the company's Starbase facility in the U.S. state of Texas, was halted at T-minus 40 seconds. SpaceX later announced that Thursday's launch attempt had been scrubbed.
SpaceX founder Elon Musk said on X that the launch was called off because a hydraulic pin used to secure the launch tower arm failed to retract as planned.
He said another launch attempt could take place at 5:30 p.m. Central Time on Friday if the issue is resolved overnight.
The mission is set to mark the debut flight of the next-generation Starship spacecraft and Super Heavy booster, powered by an upgraded version of the Raptor engine and launched from a newly designed pad at Starbase.
According to SpaceX, the primary objective of the flight test is to evaluate the performance of these upgraded systems in a real flight environment for the first time. ■
