'Second delay in two days’: SpaceX cancels Starship flight; Elon Musk blames storm clouds

SpaceX postponed the launch of its Starship rocket for the second time in two days, after bad weather forced a last-minute halt on Monday. The rocket was scheduled to lift off from the company’s Starbase facility in southern Texas at 7.30 pm local time but was called off shortly before takeoff.

“Standing down from today’s flight test attempt due to weather. Starship team is determining the next best available opportunity to fly,” SpaceX said in a post on X. Elon Musk also posted, “Launch called off for tonight due to anvil clouds over launch site (lightning risk).”




The delay followed Sunday’s aborted launch, when a ground-system leak disrupted the fueling process. That attempt, scheduled for (2330 GMT) , was halted about 15 minutes before liftoff. “Standing down from today’s tenth flight of Starship to allow time to troubleshoot an issue with ground systems,” the company posted at the time.

Elon Musk later confirmed on X that the problem was caused by a ground-side liquid oxygen leak, which he described as a critical safety issue. He said the team was working to resolve it swiftly, adding that another attempt would be made within 24 hours.



According to AFP, road closures near Starbase indicated a possible launch window on Monday or Tuesday, though SpaceX did not issue a revised schedule. However, according to air traffic notices, SpaceX does have clearance to try again on Tuesday between 7:15 pm and 9:34 pm ET.

For now, however, SpaceX says that its logistics team is still working to confirm exactly when the next takeoff attempt will be.

The planned hour-long test flight was designed to push the rocket’s upper stage through new trials, sending it halfway around the globe before re-entering over the Indian Ocean. The booster stage was expected to splash down separately.

The New York Times reported that the mission would also have tested the deployment of mock-ups of next-generation Starlink satellites and carried out a brief in-space engine burn, both considered critical for future operations.

Standing 403 feet (123 metres) tall, Starship is the world’s most powerful rocket and central to Musk’s long-term plans for colonising Mars. NASA is also banking on a modified version of the spacecraft to land astronauts on the Moon under its Artemis III programme.



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