"The first scrub came on Saturday, shortly after SpaceX began fueling the rocket for its tenth test flight. The countdown clock was abruptly stopped just after the 40-minute mark, and the company posted: "Standing down from today's tenth flight of Starship to allow time to troubleshoot an issue with ground systems." SpaceX boss Elon Musk later took to his social media mouthpiece, X, to say: "Ground side liquid oxygen leak needs to be fixed. Aiming for another launch attempt tomorrow.""
"That launch attempt was also scrubbed. This time, the countdown clock got to 40 seconds before controllers decided the weather wasn't going to cooperate and scrubbed the launch. SpaceX posted: "Standing down from today's flight test attempt due to weather." Musk clarified: "Launch called off for tonight due to anvil clouds over launch site (lightning risk)." The weather had been looking iffy."
"Sooner rather than later would be good as far as NASA is concerned. The agency is depending on the Human Landing System (HLS) variant of the spacecraft to return astronauts to the Moon in 2027. Worryingly for the US space agency and its Artemis lunar ambitions, SpaceX and Musk appear obsessed with Mars rather than with the series of launches that will be needed to get astronauts on the lunar surface."
Starship's tenth test flight was scrubbed twice: first during fueling because of a ground-side liquid oxygen leak, then the following attempt due to anvil clouds and lightning risk. The first countdown halted just after the 40-minute mark to troubleshoot a ground systems issue. The second countdown reached 40 seconds before controllers called the scrub as weather worsened; SpaceX reported a 55 percent chance of favorable conditions at window start. The team plans another attempt on Tuesday, August 26, with a window at 1830 CT (2330 UTC). NASA relies on the Starship HLS variant to return astronauts to the Moon in 2027.
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