The 12th test flight of SpaceX's Starship, the largest rocket system ever built, was called off at the last minute on Thursday, a day after the company posted multi-billion-dollar losses ahead of its planned blockbuster stock market debut.
Company founder Elon Musk said in a post on social media platform X that "the hydraulic pin holding the tower arm in place did not retract." Musk added that "If that can be fixed tonight," there would be another launch attempt on Friday.
The test is due to "debut the next generation Starship and Super Heavy vehicles, with both powered by the next evolution of the Raptor engine," according to SpaceX.
In a Wednesday filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the space company reported a net loss of about $4.94 billion last year on revenue of $18.67 billion. The company's IPO is reportedly targeted for mid-June after SpaceX initially filed confidentially without disclosing financial data.
According to the SEC filing, the company has invested more than $15 billion in its Starship rocket programme. The company expects Starship to begin commercial flights after testing is completed in the second half of the year.
SpaceX says the rocket is designed to significantly lower the cost of transport into space and will also be used to launch Starlink satellites capable of delivering internet service directly to smartphones.
