SpaceX has postponed the 12th test flight of its Starship rocket, originally scheduled for Thursday from its facility in Boca Chica, Texas. The company now aims for a second attempt on Friday, after a last-minute abort triggered by a mechanical fault.
The launch was halted just seconds before liftoff, following multiple holds in the countdown caused by pressure and fuel temperature irregularities. Elon Musk, SpaceX's founder and CEO, explained on his social media platform X that “the hydraulic pin holding the tower arm in place did not retract.” He added that if the issue can be resolved overnight, another attempt will be made at 5:30 CT (22:30 GMT) on Friday.
The delay carries heightened significance because it comes only a day after SpaceX disclosed its intention to go public. The company is targeting a valuation of $1.75 trillion (€1.51 trillion), which would make it the largest initial public offering in history. The Starship V3's performance is seen as a key factor in shaping investor sentiment ahead of the listing.
SpaceX has already invested more than $15 billion (€12.9 billion) in developing the fully reusable Starship system. The rocket is designed to reduce launch costs dramatically, enabling missions such as NASA's lunar expeditions, the deployment of Starlink satellites, and even the construction of orbital data centers. In its IPO filing, SpaceX described Starship V3 as “the most powerful launch system ever developed,” capable of carrying a payload of 100 metric tons, with future versions intended to double that capacity.
IPO Details and Market Implications
SpaceX plans to list on the Nasdaq stock exchange under the ticker symbol SPCX, with an expected debut date of 12 June. The company submitted its confidential filing on 1 April 2026, and released its public S-1 prospectus in mid-May. An investor roadshow is scheduled for early June. The company will adopt a dual-class share structure, granting Musk more than 85% of the combined voting power.
If the IPO proceeds at the targeted valuation, Musk could become the world's first trillionaire, following his milestone of surpassing $500 billion (€430.8 billion) in net worth last year. The offering is being led by Goldman Sachs, as reported in our earlier coverage.
Musk has sought to reassure potential investors that a failure in the upcoming test flight would not be catastrophic. He noted that it would likely delay future launches by only about a month, as SpaceX has several other V3 ships and boosters in production. This approach reflects the company's broader strategy of aggressive flight-testing to identify failure points, followed by iterative refinements.
The Starship program has already faced months of delays due to extensive testing and redesign. Thursday's aborted launch underscores the technical challenges involved in perfecting what SpaceX calls the most powerful rocket ever built. For context, the company's previous record-breaking IPO plans were outlined in our analysis of the biggest stock market debuts.
While the Starship is uncrewed, its success is critical for SpaceX's commercial and governmental contracts. The European Space Agency (ESA) and other international partners are closely watching the program, as it could reshape access to space for European payloads and research. However, the immediate focus remains on resolving the hydraulic issue and getting the rocket off the ground.
