SpaceX attempted a Thursday launch of a taller, more powerful Starship rocket, but the countdown paused 40 seconds before liftoff. The launch team repeatedly tried to resume the sequence, while the launch computer stopped the clock multiple times, resulting in five holds. SpaceX then stood down for the day after determining the issue could not be cleared in time. Elon Musk attributed the scrub to a hydraulic pin that failed to retract on an umbilical arm connecting the launch tower to the rocket. If the problem was fixed overnight, another launch attempt was planned for Friday during a 90-minute window. The next flight would be the first from a new Starbase launch pad and the first using Starship Version 3.
"The upcoming Starship test flight will mark the first liftoff from a brand new launch pad at Starbase, Texas, the one-year-old city encompassing SpaceX's South Texas test site near the US-Mexico border. It will be the 12th full-scale test flight of Starship and its Super Heavy booster to date, and the first to employ an overhauled design SpaceX calls Starship Version 3. Starship V3 introduces numerous changes, including 39 more efficient, higher-thrust Raptor engines, a redesigne"
Read at Ars Technica
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