Elon Musk’s rocket manufacturing company SpaceX said on Thursday that its Starship launch vehicle is now slated to launch as soon as Monday. The rocket was previously set to launch on Friday.
What Happened: The company announced the delay in the timeline in a post on social media platform X, without providing a reason.
Why It Matters: For the upcoming test flight, SpaceX is eyeing Starship's first payload deployment and experiments aimed at returning the upper stage of the two-stage vehicle to the launch site for catch. The company will also attempt to return and catch the vehicle's Super Heavy booster, failing which it will have a soft splashdown in the Gulf of America.
SpaceX will attempt to deploy four Starlink simulators on its next flight, similar in size to the next generation of Starlink satellites.
SpaceX last launched Starship on Jan. 16. The spacecraft lifted off from Starbase in Texas at 4:37 p.m. CT, and the vehicle booster landed back at the launch site after separation from its first stage.
The upcoming test flight would be Starship's eighth to date and second this year. SpaceX started testing Starship in April 2023.
Check out more of Benzinga's Future Of Mobility coverage by following this link.
Read Next:
Photo courtesy: SpaceX
© 2026 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.
To add Benzinga News as your preferred source on Google, click here.