Starship IFT-12 Block 3 Scrubbed at T-40 Seconds — Hydraulic Pin Failure on Mechazilla Tower Arm; Second Attempt Set for May 22

SpaceX's inaugural Starship Block 3 (V3) integrated flight test was scrubbed at T-40 seconds during the May 21, 2026, launch window (22:30 UTC, 5:30 p.m. CDT) from Orbital Launch Pad 2 (OLP-2) at Starbase, Boca Chica, Texas. An automatic countdown hold was triggered when a hydraulic pin on the Mechazilla catch tower arm failed to retract into its stowed position, preventing the tower from clearing the vehicle for launch. No anomaly was detected on either flight vehicle. Booster 19 — featuring 33 Raptor 3 engines and the Block 3 integrated vented interstage — and Ship 39 (V3, 124.4 m tall, 25% greater propellant capacity than V2) remained fully stacked on the pad. The mission's objectives included: deployment of 20 Starlink mass-simulators, release of 2 modified Starlinks with heat-shield imaging cameras, a single Raptor engine relight in space, Booster 19 splashdown in the Gulf of Mexico, and Ship 39 splashdown in the Indian Ocean. IFT-12 was also the first planned launch from OLP-2, a second orbital launch mount distinct from the original OLP-1. SpaceX engineers resolved the hydraulic issue overnight and announced a second launch attempt for May 22, 2026, in an approximately 90-minute window opening at 22:30 UTC (5:30 p.m. CDT). The scrub came just one day after SpaceX's public S-1 IPO filing, maintaining intense investor and media attention on Block 3's debut.