SpaceX delays Wednesday's Starship test flight

BOCA CHICA, Texas - The eighth test flight of SpaceX's Starship has been pushed back for another day.

What we know:

The company made the announcement on social media platform X early Wednesday morning.

SpaceX has been trying to launch since Friday, in what would be its first Starship launch since their January test ended in an explosion.

The Starship rocket is expected to take off from SpaceX's Starbase launch pad, outside of Brownsville, Texas, for its eighth test flight.

Flight delays

Monday's flight was delayed after the launch countdown was paused after issues were discovered on the booster and the Starship. The company thought the issues were fixed and again started to count down before more issues were discovered with the booster rocket and the launch was scrubbed, according to the company's live stream.

What we don't know:

The latest launch of a Starship has now been delayed three times. On Monday the delay came from issues with the company's Starship and it is unclear if those issues have been resolved.

The company says the launch window for Thursday's test flight opens at 5:30 p.m. CT.

What are they testing?

SpaceX has laid out several goals for its next test flight.

The Starship is expected to deploy four Starlink simulators as a test. The simulators are expected to be destroyed on reentry.

The test is focused on the Starship's return and stress testing its reentry capabilities.

The company said they were testing several different metallic tile options to test alternative materials for protecting the ship on reentry and removing a "significant number" of tiles to stress-test vulnerable areas of the ship.

The test will also look to improve on the accuracy of the launch tower's "chopsticks" that catch returning rockets.

The backstory:

The company made its seventh test flight of Starship and their Super Heavy rocket on Jan. 16, 2025. 

After launch, the Starship successfully separated from the booster rocket, but started experiencing problems two minutes later when a flash was seen in the rear of the ship between the ship's liquid oxygen tank and heat shield. Two minutes after that, a fire started in that section, leading to engine shutdowns and eventually triggering the ship's safety system, which led to the ship breaking apart.

In a report issued by SpaceX, the company said the ship's safety system and "Flight Termination System" worked as they were intended when the ship exploded.

"The most probable root cause for the loss of ship was identified as a harmonic response several times stronger in flight than had been seen during testing, which led to increased stress on hardware in the propulsion system," SpaceX said. "The subsequent propellant leaks exceeded the venting capability of the ship’s attic area and resulted in sustained fires."

Improvements as a result of the investigation

Following the explosion, the Federal Aviation Administration ordered SpaceX to conduct a mishap investigation.

SpaceX officials said they conducted an "extended duration static fire" with the Starship they intend to use for its eighth test flight. They said they used multiple engine thrust levels and hardware configurations to recreate the vibration levels from the failed flight.

The results have led to a change in the fuel lines to the engines and adjustments to the fuel temperature.

The company is also making changes to the rear portion that caught on fire during the last launch by adding more vents and a new purge system.