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SpaceX Delays Starship Flight 10 Again After Weather Scrub

Analysts say pressure has intensified after a year of upper-stage failures.

A SpaceX Super Heavy booster carrying the Starship spacecraft vents before the launch is scrubbed to allow for troubleshooting of a ground issue at the company's launch complex in Starbase, Texas, U.S., August 24, 2025. REUTERS/Steve Nesius/File Photo
A SpaceX Starship spacecraft rolls out toward its launch pad past the Starbase Manufacturing Facility before its 10th test flight from the company's complex in Starbase, Texas, U.S., August 23, 2025. REUTERS/Steve Nesius
A SpaceX Starship spacecraft sits atop a super heavy booster at the launch pad Aug. 25 before its scheduled tenth test flight, at the company's complex in Starbase, Texas. SpaceX scrubbed the launch and is now targeting an Aug. 25 launch window.
Spectators watch from the dunes as preparations to launch a SpaceX Starship spacecraft continue, at the company's complex in Starbase, Texas, U.S., August 25, 2025. REUTERS/Steve Nesius

Overview

  • SpaceX aborted Monday’s launch window for Starship’s tenth test due to bad weather, a day after standing down for a ground-systems problem.
  • Sunday’s attempt was scrubbed minutes before liftoff as Elon Musk cited a ground-side liquid oxygen leak that required fixes.
  • The pending flight is planned to test key reusability steps including a mock Starlink payload release, an in-space engine relight, and a high-stress reentry over the Indian Ocean.
  • Super Heavy will target a soft water landing in the Gulf of Mexico, with no launch-tower catch attempt on this mission.
  • The run of 2025 setbacks—three upper-stage losses in flight and a June static-fire explosion—has sharpened scrutiny as SpaceX pursues Starlink growth and supports NASA’s Artemis lunar lander plans.