"Standing down from today's tenth flight of Starship to allow time to troubleshoot an issue with ground systems," the company posted on X. The giant rocket had been scheduled to lift off at 6:30 pm local time (2330 GMT).

The mission was intended to put Starship's upper stage through a half-world flight before splashing down in the Indian Ocean. Unlike earlier attempts, SpaceX did not plan to attempt a booster recovery using the launch tower's "chopstick" arms.

The cancellation follows a run of high-profile failures in 2025. Three upper stage tests ended in explosions, while a separate static fire in June destroyed another vehicle on the pad. The delays have fueled questions about whether the world's most powerful rocket can achieve reliability.

Analysts say the pressure on SpaceX is mounting. "I think there is a lot of pressure on this mission," Dallas Kasaboski of Analysys Mason said previously. "We've had so many tests and it hasn't proven itself reliable -- the successes have not exceeded the failures."

Will Lockett, a former engineer turned commentator, argued that the design itself may be flawed, noting that efforts to lighten Starship for higher payload capacity could be contributing to structural weakness.

Despite mounting scrutiny and environmental objections, SpaceX is accelerating Starship production, building new infrastructure in Florida, and positioning the vehicle as the eventual replacement for its Falcon rockets. NASA continues to count on a derivative version for its Artemis lunar lander.

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