SpaceX called off the first launch attempt of its giant rocket after a problem cropped up during fuelling,

Elon Musk’s company had planned to fly the nearly 400-foot (120m) Starship rocket from the southern tip of Texas, near the Mexican border.

The test flight was called off with just over eight minutes left in the countdown because of a stuck valve needed to pressurise the first-stage booster. Launch controllers couldn’t fix the frozen valve in time, but for practice, took the clocks down to the 40-second mark before halting the countdown.

No people or satellites were aboard. There won’t be another try until at least Wednesday.

 “Learned a lot today,” Musk tweeted after the flight was postponed.

The company plans to use Starship to send people and cargo to the moon and, ultimately, Mars.

Onlookers watch as SpaceX's Starship stands ready for launch in Boca Chica, Texas. Photo / AP

On the eve of the launch attempt, cars, campers, RVs and even bicycles and horses jammed the only road leading to the launch pad, where the stainless steel rocket towered above the flat scrubland and prairie. Enthusiasts posed in front of the giant letters that spelled out Starbase at the entrance of the SpaceX complex, and in front of the rocket 3km farther down the road, which ended at a beach on the Gulf of Mexico.

Spectators were barred from the area and instead packed a beach about 10km away on South Padre Island.

Ernesto and Maria Carreon drove two hours from Mission, Texas, with their two daughters, 5 and 7, to watch.

“I got sad. They got sad,” when the launch attempt was cancelled, Maria Carreon said.

They can’t return for the next try but planned to have fun on the beach on Monday.

Michelle Vancampenhout, on vacation from Green Bay, Wisconsin, said she’ll be back.

“It’s a once-in-a-lifetime experience to see it,” she said.

- Marcia Dunn, AP