--- title: "SpaceX Having Trouble Getting Starship Launched Again After Explosion" description: "SpaceX was forced to call off the eighth flight test of Starship just minutes before the rocket was supposed to launch from the company's facility in Boca Chica, Texas. On Monday evening, several unspecified issues related to the rocket's Super Heavy booster were flagged by engineers, according to SpaceFlightNow, less than a half hour before its scheduled 5:45 launch time. After a temporary hold was placed, SpaceX decided to scrub the launch entirely. SpaceX founder and CEO Elon Musk exhorted caution, but was light on details. \"Too many question marks about this flight and then we were 20 bar low […]" date: "2025-03-05" modified: "2025-03-05" authors: - name: "Frank Landymore" job_title: "Contributing Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/flandymore" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/spacex-trouble-starship-after-explosion" categories: - "Advanced Transport" - "Space" - "SpaceX" - "Starship" tags: - "elon musk" - "SpaceX" - "Starship" - "the digest" --- # SpaceX Having Trouble Getting Starship Launched Again After Explosion ![SpaceX is having trouble getting its next Starship rocket into the sky after the last one exploded during a test flight.]() *\Image: Brandon Bell via Getty / Futurism\* SpaceX was forced to call off the eighth flight test of its mammoth Starship spacecraft just minutes before the rocket was supposed to launch from the company's facility in Boca Chica, Texas. On Monday evening, several unspecified issues related to the 403-foot rocket's Super Heavy booster were flagged by engineers, [according to *SpaceFlightNow*](), less than a half hour before its scheduled 5:45 launch time. After placing a temporary hold, SpaceX decided to scrub the launch entirely. SpaceX founder and CEO Elon Musk exhorted caution, but was light on details about what went wrong. "Too many question marks about this flight and then we were 20 bar low on ground spin start pressure," Musk [said](). "Best to destack, inspect both stages and try again in a day or two." On Wednesday morning, SpaceX [said]() it aims to attempt another launch as soon as Thursday. The day before, it [briefly claimed]() that Wednesday would be the new launch date, though these quickly shifting timelines aren't uncommon in the world of spaceflight. The eighth flight test, whenever it happens, will be the first since Starship's upper stage [spectacularly exploded midair]() over the Caribbean in January. The incident sent streaks of fiery debris careening through the sky, forcing air traffic controllers to [divert flights in the area](). Some debris even landed on nearby islands, [angering residents](). A subsequent [investigation determined]() that violent oscillations caused a propellant leak in the Starship's "attic" — or the gap between the rocket's rear heat shield and its liquid oxygen tank. The resulting buildup [sparked a flurry of fires]() that took out almost all the rocket's engines, triggering the ship's onboard self-destruct system minutes later. It wasn't entirely disastrous. Following a smooth separation from the ill-fated upper stage, the Starship's Super Heavy booster executed a boostback burn, a maneuver in which the rocket reverses course after separating. During the maneuver, all but one of its 13 engines successfully reignited, and shortly afterwards, the booster guided itself back towards its launch pad, where it was [caught midair by the tower's "chopstick" arms](). For the upcoming flight test, SpaceX is more or less re-attempting the last one, with several tweaks. One major change is adding more ventilation to the Starship's attic to prevent another fire. There have also been modifications to the Starship's fuel line and adjustments to the engine's thrust levels and the temperatures of the propellant. Along with another trial of relighting its engines in orbit, SpaceX will test a system to deploy four expendable dummy Starlink satellites from the vehicle's upper stage at a suborbital altitude — if it survives long enough, that is. **More on SpaceX:** *[It Looks an Awful Lot Like Elon Musk Is Awarding a Huge Government Contract to Himself]()* ## Author At Futurism, my work has often centered on bringing a sense of clarity and insight to complex topics ranging from the regulation of emerging technologies to the esoteric ideologies of Silicon Valley executives, while striving not to lose the poetic sense of awe inspired by often-obscure fields like astrophysics and quantum computing. I broke the story of CNET using AI to produce articles that turned out to be riddled with factual errors and plagiarism — a dam-breaking inflection point, as I've reported, that's inspired copycats and endless discourse while beguiling stakeholders ranging from tech giants to purveyors of spam around the web. My work at Futurism has been cited by publications including CBS News, the Los Angeles Times, Vice, Gizmodo, Engadget, the Verge, and Vanity Fair. I grew up in locales ranging from India to China, and now live in the exotic suburbs of Virginia. In my free time, I'm an avid reader of weird sci-fi literature, an aficionado of East Asian cinema, and, regrettably, a relapsed gamer. Allegedly, I’m working on a debut novel, currently untitled. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()