New Delhi, May 22 -- SpaceX called off the launch of its Starship rocket on Thursday after loading the vehicle onto a newly constructed launch pad at Starbase, its company town in southern Texas. A 90-minute window had opened at 6:30 p.m. ET, but liftoff did not follow. During a live broadcast of the event, SpaceX video hosts confirmed that the company had "got the vehicle totally loaded" before the scrub was called.

The company has not confirmed a precise rescheduled time, but a second attempt is expected on Friday.

The vehicle at the centre of Thursday's postponement is Starship Version 3, the most powerful and technologically advanced iteration of SpaceX's flagship rocket to date.

Standing 408 feet tall when fully stacked, the two-s...