SpaceX cancels launch of Starship megacraft

(AFP) SpaceX, the company owned by billionaire Elon Musk, canceled at the last minute the launch of the eighth test flight of its Starship mega-rocket at the last moment after detecting an issue with the spacecraft—a common type of delay in the space industry.

"We would have liked to have liftoff today, but the crews are doing the right thing," Kate Tice, an employee of the aerospace firm, explained during the official video broadcast.

SpaceX added on the X social network that its engineers are determining "the next best opportunity" for launch.

The world's largest and most powerful rocket was scheduled to lift off unmanned at 18:45 p.m. from SpaceX's Starbase facility in Boca Chica, Texas.

A rescheduled launchhas not yet been announced, although Dan Huot, another SpaceX employee, said during the broadcast that it was expected "about 24 hours from now."

With a height of 123 meters, about 30 meters taller than the Statue of Liberty, the Starship is designed to re-land. The device is the star of Musk and SpaceX's dream of getting humans to Mars.