SpaceX Aborts Starship Launch as Engines Fail to Ignite

SpaceX’s Starship rocket almost took off on a test flight on Thursday but encountered a last-second abort due to engine issues. The company, led by Elon Musk, needs to investigate the cause before attempting another launch. This mission was intended to be the 13th flight for Starship, which stands at an impressive 407 feet (124 meters) with 33 engines, making it the largest and most powerful rocket in the world.

The launch webcast showed engine ignition beginning three seconds before liftoff, captured by a drone flying overhead. However, the engines that started quickly shut down, leaving the rocket on the pad. The launch team promptly began removing fuel from the rocket. Musk stated, “Next launch attempt hopefully in a few days,” via X.

Until the partial engine ignition, everything, including weather conditions, was favorable for SpaceX. Starship was carrying 20 advanced Starlink satellites intended to be deployed during an hour-long flight. These satellites were expected to communicate with existing Starlinks in orbit and document the rocket’s heat shield.

The plan did not foresee the recovery of the first-stage booster or the spacecraft, both destined to end up in the sea. NASA expects Starship to land astronauts on the moon in the coming years. Alongside SpaceX, NASA has commissioned Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin to develop and fly lunar landers for returning humans to the moon after more than 50 years.

Both companies are tasked with readying their landers—Starship and Blue Moon—by the following year. This timeline will enable the Artemis III crew to practice docking their capsule with these landers in Earth’s orbit. Later, the Artemis IV mission, planned no earlier than 2028, intends to use one of these landers to transport astronauts to the moon’s south pole.

This update was provided by the Associated Press Health and Science Department, with support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.