SpaceX has postponed its 12th Starship rocket launch, originally scheduled for Thursday from Texas, with a new attempt planned for Friday. The delay comes just one day after the company disclosed plans for its highly anticipated stock market debut, which is expected to be the largest initial public offering in history, targeting a valuation of $1.75 trillion.
The uncrewed Starship V3 has undergone dozens of upgrades for NASA moon missions and Starlink launches, but has faced months of delays due to extensive testing. Thursday's launch was called off seconds before liftoff after the countdown was halted multiple times due to pressure and fuel temperature issues.
"The hydraulic pin holding the tower arm in place did not retract. If that can be fixed tonight, there will be another launch attempt tomorrow at 5:30 CT," CEO Elon Musk posted on X.
Musk has reassured investors that a failure would delay future test launches by only about a month, as multiple V3 ships and boosters are ready. The company has spent over $15 billion developing the fully reusable Starship, which aims to slash launch costs and enable orbital data centers and deep-space exploration.
SpaceX will list on the Nasdaq under the ticker SPCX on June 12. A dual-class share structure will give Musk over 85% of the voting power. The IPO is expected to push Musk's net worth past $1 trillion, making him the world's first trillionaire.