The last couple of minutes into today’s (May 21) attempt at the Flight 12 Starship launch were the most intense. The liftoff counter held at T -40 seconds for too long.
The quick-disconnect (QD) arm was still connected to the Starship, while it was supposed to have been disconnected after completion of the propellant load and needed venting.
As we noted in our live updates coverage today, an unexpected plume formed behind the QD arm. After multiple troubleshooting attempts, SpaceX announced the Flight 12 scrub (cacelled today).
Right after the scrub announcement, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk went on to his social media platform X to explain the reason for not attempting the Flight 12 Starship launch today (scrub). He stated:
The hydraulic pin holding the tower arm in place did not retract.
If that can be fixed tonight, there will be another launch attempt tomorrow at 5:30 CT.
Tomorrow’s attempt at Flight 12 Starship launch is tied to fixing the quick-disconnect arm. If the mechanism of the pin attachment and retraction is fixed tonight, SpaceX will attempt the Flight 12 test once again tomorrow.
Today’s Flight 12 scrub wasn’t a waste of time and energy. Today’s attempt was converted to a wet dress rehearsal, as we can see in the image above, SpaceX successfully loaded max propellant (11.5 million pounds / 5,000 tonnes) to the first V3 Starship.
As Musk used to say about Starship launches, “Excitement is guaranteed”. He is right, even today’s scrub was exciting. At least 1 million viewers were watching the official webcast live stream today.
Stay tuned as we give you live coverage of the Starship’s 12 flight test if it happens tomorrow.
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