Washington: SpaceX delayed the tenth test flight of its massive Starship rocket on Monday because of bad weather, marking the second launch postponement in as many days. The launch, originally scheduled for Sunday evening, was first postponed due to a ground-system liquid oxygen leak and then scrubbed again on Monday because of thunderstorm risks over the site in southern Texas.

The Starship rocket, standing 403 feet (123 meters) tall, is the world’s most powerful launch vehicle and central to SpaceX founder Elon Musk’s plans for Mars colonisation and NASA’s Artemis lunar missions. The upcoming flight aims to put the upper stage through structural stress testing with a transoceanic flight path ending in a splashdown in the Indian Ocean.

Unlike prior launches, the Super Heavy booster will not be caught by mechanical arms on the launch tower but will attempt a controlled splashdown in the Gulf of Mexico. The mission will also test new heat-shield materials and deploy mock Starlink satellites.

Despite SpaceX's successes with Falcon rockets and Dragon capsules, confidence in Starship’s readiness has been shaken by repeated failures in 2025. The upper stage exploded on all three test flights this year, with debris falling over Caribbean islands and during flight. In June, an upper stage detonated during ground testing.

Elon Musk expressed optimism about overcoming engineering challenges, highlighting the importance of developing a reusable orbital heat shield and in-orbit refuelling, both key to missions beyond Earth orbit. Delays to Starship could impact NASA’s Artemis program, which aims to return astronauts to the Moon by 2027 using a Starship-based lander.

SpaceX now targets a possible launch window on Tuesday, contingent on weather and system readiness.

With inputs from AFP