When is the next SpaceX Starship launch? What to know after 'question marks' prompt delay

SpaceX has delayed the eighth uncrewed flight testfor its gargantuan Starship spacecraft that could be a vital part of deep-space travel in the years ahead.

The 400-foot spacecraft, composed of both the Starship vehicle and Super Heavy rocket, was stacked and ready to get off the ground Monday from the company's Starbase in South Texas before SpaceX opted to scrub the launch. The decision to push the latest liftoff was due to issues with the booster, according to SpaceX.

"Too many question marks about this flight," SpaceX CEO Elon Musk said on social media site X, adding that another launch attempt could take place "in a day or two."

The next Starship launch would represent a do-over, of sorts, after the previous flight test in Januaryended with the vehicle unexpectedly exploding in the sky. SpaceX's most recent demonstration of the biggest and most powerful rocket ever built also included the second-ever return of the booster, known as the Super Heavy, at the launch pad.

SpaceX envisions the spacecraft as being a fully reusable transportation system that will be vital for when NASA astronauts return to the moon, perhaps as early as 2027. The SpaceX CEO has also made clear his ambitions for Starship to ferry the first humans from Earth straight to Mars.

When could Starship launch and what will SpaceX look to accomplish?

The next launch attempt for Starship, which has yet to reach orbit on any of its flights, is now targeted for6:30 p.m. EST Wednesday, SpaceX said Tuesday morning.

SpaceX plans to attempt a third return and catch of the rocket booster at the launch pad, which would cause sonic booms in the area around the landing zone. The maneuver, which was first pulled off once during the October demonstration, was called off during the November launch, which then President-elect Donald Trump attended.

The Starship vehicle itself is targeted to land once again in the Indian Ocean. However, SpaceX plans to conduct experiments geared toward one day returning the vehicle, known as the the upper stage, back to the launch site.

In another objective, SpaceX will take a second shot at a Starlink payload deployment test – a key capability for the vehicle in the future that was called off during the previous launch. The four Starlink simulators, similar in size and weight to next-generation Starlink satellites, will be on the same suborbital trajectory as Starship and are expected to burn up on reentry.

Additionally, the company plans to once again reignite its Raptor engines in space to attempt an orbital burn – a crucial maneuver to one day bring a vehicle back to the ground.

Starship to launch from Florida by end of year

Starship has always launched from SpaceX's Starbase in Boca Chica near Brownsville, Texas, but that could change by the end of the year.

The space exploration company is planning to expand its Starship launch capabilities to the Florida Space Coast sometime in 2025. A launch would take place from NASA's Kennedy Space Center on the historic launch pad 39A  – the site of the U.S. space agency's Apollo moon mission launches.

The news was publicly announced Monday during the webcast of the now-delayed Starship launch attempt.

The project would require finalizing the development of a tower on the site, as well as construction of what SpaceX refers to as a Gigabay, which would be used to stack and integrate the 232-foot-tall Super Heavy boosters with the Starship vehicle.

SpaceX completes investigation into flight 7 explosion

The most recent Starship demonstration on Jan. 16 ended in a fiery explosion after the Starship vehicle was lost during its suborbital flight in which it was meant to land in the Indian Ocean.

Mission controllers lost contact with the spacecraft within 8.5 minutes of its flight before determining that it was destroyed in what the company called a “rapid unscheduled disassembly.” Video on social media showed the explosion and its aftermath as remains of the spacecraft are seen breaking up in what looks like a stunning meteor shower.

SpaceX, which conducted an investigation with the FAA, determined that the mishap was due to a series of propellant leaks and fires in the aft section of the vehicle that caused “all but one of Starship’s engines to execute controlled shut down sequences." This led to the communication breakdown and the vehicle to trigger its own self destruction.