SpaceX delays Starship Flight 12

SpaceX scrubbed Starship Flight 12 on Thursday, May 21, after a launch-tower pin failed to retract during the final countdown, according to Bloomberg. The stand-down came seconds before liftoff of the first test flight for the company’s upgraded Starship Version 3 vehicle, CNN and NBC reported. SpaceX has since reset for Friday, May 22, with a 90-minute launch window opening at 5:30 p.m. Central time, according to the company’s mission page. The launch would take place from Starbase in South Texas on what SpaceX says is a newly designed pad for the more powerful rocket. ### What stopped the countdown on May 21? Bloomberg reported that the problem was a pin holding the tower arm in place that failed to retract during the countdown. CNN and NBC said SpaceX stood down just before liftoff, ending the first launch attempt for Starship V3 before the vehicle left the pad. The issue centered on ground equipment rather than a midflight anomaly, based on those reports. (spacex.com) ### What is different about Flight 12? Flight 12 is the inaugural test of SpaceX’s third-generation Starship and Super Heavy vehicles, the company says. SpaceX said the flight will debut “the next generation” of both stages, powered by the latest Raptor engine and launched from a new pad at Starbase. Reuters reported this would also be the first blastoff from the new launch pad designed for the more powerful rocket. (space.com) May 12 was the date SpaceX published an overview of Starship V3, saying the redesign incorporated lessons from earlier flight tests and development work. The company said the new configuration is aimed at full and rapid reuse, with changes to Starship, Super Heavy, Raptor and pad systems. ### What was SpaceX trying to test on this flight? SpaceX said Flight 12 would carry out multiple first-use objectives for the upgraded system. (spacex.com) Reporting ahead of the launch said the mission was to include deployment of dummy Starlink payloads and heat-shield testing during reentry. Space Launch Live said two modified payloads were designed to photograph the heat shield and send imagery to operators as SpaceX tests methods for checking return readiness on future missions. (spacex.com) The company’s mission page says the flight is intended to demonstrate the redesigned architecture in a flight environment for the first time. Next Spaceflight said the booster test goals include launch, ascent, stage separation, boostback burn and landing burn toward an offshore point in the Gulf. ### Why does the launch site matter here? Starbase Pad 2 is part of the Flight 12 story because the new vehicle is tied to new ground systems. (spacelaunchlive.com) Reuters, citing FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford, said the upcoming mission would mark the first flight of both the V3 Starship and Super Heavy from the new launch pad. NASA Spaceflight, in a preview of the test, described Pad 2 as a redesigned complex with a new launch mount, tower, tank farm and water deluge system. (spacex.com) ### What happens next? Friday, May 22, is the next scheduled attempt. SpaceX said the launch window opens at 5:30 p.m. Central time and that its webcast will begin about 45 minutes before liftoff. The company also said developmental test schedules remain dynamic and directed viewers to its mission page and X account for updates. (spacex.com) (thestar.com.my)