SpaceX scrubbed the first launch of its third-generation Starship rocket system from its Starbase headquarters in Texas on Thursday, delaying a high-stakes test of Elon Musk's upgraded vehicle as the company moves toward a potentially record-setting public listing.

Launch Scrubbed Seconds Before Liftoff

The company called off the launch seconds before liftoff after multiple countdown pauses tied to fuel temperature and pressure readings. Musk said on X that a hydraulic pin on one of the launch tower's giant mechanical arms "did not retract" as designed. "If that can be fixed tonight, there will be another launch attempt tomorrow," he said.

Reuters reported that SpaceX is preparing another attempt during a 90-minute window opening at 5:30 p.m. Central time Friday. The uncrewed Starship V3, equipped with dozens of upgrades for rapid Starlink launches and NASA moon missions, was designed as a key test after months of delays and redesign work.

Starship V3 Carries Big Ambitions

The flight would mark the debut of Starship V3. SpaceX said in its IPO prospectus on Wednesday that the vehicle "is designed to deliver 100 metric tons to Earth's orbit in a fully reusable configuration while enabling rapid turnaround times akin to commercial aviation."

SpaceX has spent more than $15 billion developing Starship, according to the filing. The company says the vehicle is central to launching Starlink satellites faster than Falcon 9 rockets can, while also supporting NASA lunar missions and Musk's broader ambitions for deep-space exploration and orbital data centers.

SpaceX spent months redesigning Starship after a streak of failures last year. Before Thursday's attempt, Musk tried to lower expectations, saying, "There is a large pipeline of V3 ships and boosters in the factory." He said even a failure would not slow future tests "by more than a month or so."

IPO Pressure Raises Stakes Further

The scrub could weigh on investor confidence ahead of what Reuters described as a possible $1.75 trillion IPO.

Patrick Boyle, a former hedge fund manager, called SpaceX a "money furnace" on Thursday after the prospectus showed a roughly $4.3 billion first-quarter loss on $4.7 billion in revenue. Starlink posted about $1.19 billion in operating profit, while the space division lost $662 million and the AI unit absorbed from xAI lost about $2.5 billion.

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