SpaceX has twice postponed the long-awaited tenth integrated test flight of its Starship rocket after separate last-minute scrubs at the company’s Starbase complex in South Texas. The first attempt on Sunday, 24 August, was abandoned roughly an hour before a 6:30 p.m. Central Time launch window opened when engineers detected a ground-systems problem and recycled the countdown. Hardware fixes were completed overnight, clearing the way for a second try on Monday. On 25 August the 400-foot-tall Super Heavy booster 16 and Ship 37 were fully fueled and counted down to 40 seconds before liftoff, but an anvil cloud violated flight-safety rules. With weather only 55 % favorable, controllers scrubbed the attempt and began propellant off-load. SpaceX said it is “standing down” while teams determine the next viable opportunity to fly. The mission aims to water-land the booster in the Gulf of Mexico, deploy several Starlink mass simulators from the upper stage, and evaluate redesigned heat-shield tiles during a planned splashdown in the Indian Ocean—milestones considered critical to the vehicle’s reusable design. Starship has experienced three in-flight failures this year, and its progress is closely watched by NASA, which is counting on a modified version of the vehicle for a crewed lunar landing as early as 2027, as well as by SpaceX, which plans to use the rocket for larger Starlink payloads and eventual Mars missions.