SpaceX Starship, the most powerful rocket ever built, has delayed its 10th test flight, which was scheduled on August 24, 2025, due to a ground system issue.
The rocket company announced on X (formerly known as Twitter), stating, “Standing down from today’s tenth flight of Starship to allow time to troubleshoot an issue with ground systems.”
There is no official statement regarding the new launch, but multiple sources indicated that it is expected as early as Monday, August 25, 2025. SpaceX has always had a backup day in case of a weather or technical issue.
The current rocket using Ship 37 and Booster 16 is highly anticipated because three previous Starship flights failed in 2025, with an explosion test in June.
Starship’s 10th test flight has a mission to collect data for the future launch, and it will not provide a mesmerising view of a chopstick catch. The booster will perform an experimental burn landing in the Gulf of Mexico.
SpaceX is expected to do some tests on the new rocket. The upper stage will continue on its path to deploy eight Starlink simulators (dummy satellites) and perform an engine relight test.
Some of the heat shield tiles have also been removed from the rocket to test the design and other materials. The upper stage is expected to splash down in the Indian Ocean.
This flight is important for Musk’s vision of colonising Mars and NASA’s Artemis program to take astronauts to the Moon.
Dallas Kasaboski, a principal analyst at Analysys Mason, commented on the pressure that is surrounding the mission, “I think there is a lot of pressure on this mission…. The success has not exceeded the failure.”
However, despite facing many failures, SpaceX is sticking to its mantra “fail fast, learn fast.”
SpaceX Starship 10th test flight scrubbed due to ground system issues.