SOUTH PADRE ISLAND, Texas — Elon Musk’s SpaceX was eyeing Monday to launch its towering Starship rocket to space for the first time from a private facility in Texas along the Gulf Coast. But with under 15 minutes left in the countdown, the company announced a “scrub,” postponing the launch for at least 48 hours.

The Starship orbital launch is the culmination of several years of regulatory work and technological tests. Company leadership has repeatedly stressed the experimental nature of the launch. SpaceX had hoped to conduct the first orbital Starship launch as early as summer 2021, but delays in development and FAA approval pushed back the timeline.

Starship is designed to carry cargo and people beyond Earth and is critical to NASA’s plan to return astronauts to the moon. Two years ago, SpaceX won a nearly $3 billion contract from NASA to use Starship as a crewed lunar lander. That would see Starship be used for as part of NASA’s Artemis moon program, delivering astronauts to the lunar surface from the agency’s SLS rocket and Orion capsule.