SpaceX delays Starship test flight 10 to troubleshoot ground systems issue

Update: SpaceX said in a post on X that it was standing down from Sunday night's test flight to troubleshoot a ground systems issue. A new date for the test flight was not immediately shared.

Elon Musk's SpaceX is preparing for its tenth test flight of its Starship spacecraft from Starbase, Texas. This is the latest test flight following the loss of the Starship 36 aircraft in May, when the vehicle exploded some 40 minutes into the test flight, and the explosion during a groundtest in June.

Starship test flight: Watch live

SpaceX planned to conduct the test flight Sunday night, but canceled that plan due to a ground system issue, according to a SpaceX post on X.

What happened during Starship's ninth flight test?

SpaceX said on its website that after Starship's ninth flight test explosion, it has made "hardware and operational changes" to increase reliability. In June, SpaceX conducted a ground test of the Starship vehicle when there was a "major anomaly" while on the test stand.

Starship test flight 10 goals

"The upcoming flight will continue to expand the operating envelope on the Super Heavy booster, with multiple landing burn tests planned. It will also target similar objectives as previous missions, including Starship’s first payload deployment and multiple reentry experiments geared towards returning the upper stage to the launch site for catch," is how SpaceX describes the goals of Sunday's test flight.

"The primary test objectives for the booster will be focused on its landing burn and will use unique engine configurations. One of the three center engines used for the final phase of landing will be intentionally disabled to gather data on the ability for a backup engine from the middle ring to complete a landing burn."

"The flight test includes several experiments focused on enabling Starship’s upper stage to return to the launch site. A significant number of tiles have been removed from Starship to stress-test vulnerable areas across the vehicle during reentry. Multiple metallic tile options, including one with active cooling, will test alternative materials for protecting Starship during reentry. On the sides of the vehicle, functional catch fittings are installed and will test the fittings’ thermal and structural performance, along with a section of the tile line receiving a smoothed and tapered edge to address hot spots observed during reentry on Starship’s sixth flight test."