Elon Musk‘s SpaceX scrubbed the much-anticipated launch of the newest version of its megarocket at the last minute on Thursday (US time). The latest development extended the already much-delayed countdown merely a day after the rocket maker unveiled plans for a historic stock market debut—an event that could make its billionaire CEO the first trillionaire in the world.

Company spokesperson Dan Huot announced during the launch livestream on May 21 that the event would be postponed to a later date. The tech giant’s official team has also hinted at a new date for the landmark liftoff of the first Starship V3 megarocket after what essentially became a “wet dress rehearsal” on Thursday.

Why did SpaceX postpone its 1st Starship V3 launch?

SpaceX‘s ambitious trial to launch its new V3 rocket from the company’s Starbase site in South Texas failed on the evening of May 21 due to technical lapses that couldn’t be resolved in time.

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Even though a 90-minute launch window opened at 6:30 pm ET, Dan Huot of SpaceX communications ultimately said during the launch livestream, “We’re learning a lot about these systems as we execute them for the first time, and we’re not able to basically troubleshoot all of these issues in those final seconds to get to launch.”

Calling the Thursday attempt a “wet dress rehearsal,” he added, “We were able to fully load the vehicles, and we’re going to take the time now, figure out what tripped us up before launch, and then actually get into a flight tomorrow.”

Despite the initial go-ahead, the planned liftoff faced multiple pauses linked to fuel temperature and pressure readings, Reuters reported. Thereafter, Musk himself confirmed on X that the hydraulic pin on one of the launch tower’s mechanical arms didn’t retract as intended.

Next potential date for SpaceX Starship V3 launch

The revised Starship V3 debut date has now been pushed by a day, given Huot’s comment during the webcast. As a result, Starship Flight 12’s next launch attempt could take place on Friday, May 22, at 6:30 pm ET, in accordance with federal air traffic warnings.

Although Huot mentioned “tomorrow” as the next potential launch day, he also advised people to stay tuned to the official SpaceX social media channels for further updates and changes.

Similarly, Musk said online, “If that can be fixed tonight, there will be another launch attempt tomorrow,” referring to the faulty arm that caused the snag.

Even ahead of the Thursday launch attempt, Musk’s SpaceX IPO valuation optimistically attempted to counter high expectations, considering the possibility of things going off-track. “There is a large pipeline of V3 ships and boosters in the factory,” the company stated.

While this will mark the 12th launch for the Starship program overall, it will be the first for Starship Version 3.

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Space.com described Starship Version 3 as the “biggest and most powerful iteration of the vehicle yet.” This particular megarocket is also the first Starship version that can fly to the moon and Mars, as per Musk’s own admissions.

According to SpaceX’s Wednesday filing, Elon Musk’s company has spent over $15 billion on the Starship program, which it sees as its way to increase the pace at which the rocket maker can launch more satellites into orbit to build its Starlink constellation.

Moreover, multi-planetary colonisation has long been the impetus behind the world’s richest person’s plans to develop the Starship project. Even pay package perks for CEO Elon Musk, who has received an annual salary of $54,080 since 2019, are contingent on the company achieving certain milestones, including the establishment of a permanent human colony on Mars with at least a million inhabitants.

Watch SpaceX’s Starship V3 launch attempt (May 20):