SpaceX Starship Launch Abort Scrubs Flight 13
SpaceX Starship Launch Abort delayed Flight 13 after engine-start failures, raising operational uncertainty that clouds near-term launch cadence.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
- Pad abort halted Flight 13 during Raptor engine start, triggering an automated scrub and an investigation.
- FAA had closed its May mishap review on July 13, clearing the test before the aborted attempt.
- The suborbital mission carried 20 Starlink satellites and was postponed at least 24 hours pending fault analysis.
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SpaceX’s Starship launch abort on July 16 halted Flight 13 at Starbase after several Raptor engines failed to start. The automated scrub triggered an investigation before a retry, delaying the scheduled suborbital test.
Pad Abort and Vehicle Details
During the countdown at Starbase in South Texas, SpaceX triggered a hold on the booster and scrubbed the launch as the Raptor engines failed to ignite. The company’s live-stream transcript recorded that it “triggered a hold on the booster that aborted our liftoff as we were starting to light those Raptor engines.”
The vehicle was the upgraded Starship V3 on its second flight of that revised design, marking the program’s 13th Starship flight test. The planned suborbital mission carried 20 Starlink satellites and was configured with no recovery planned for either stage. This profile aimed to test staging and payload deployment without returning hardware.
FAA Clearance and Schedule Outlook
The Federal Aviation Administration closed its mishap review on July 13, clearing SpaceX to proceed with the next Starship test after a May booster-return failure. Prelaunch planning targeted a 90-minute launch window beginning at 6:45 p.m. ET on July 16.
After the abort, the mission was postponed by at least 24 hours while SpaceX investigates the cause. The company said it must determine what went wrong before attempting another launch.
The May mishap that prompted the FAA review involved a Super Heavy booster failing a controlled return and splashing down hard in the Gulf. No new regulatory action followed the July 16 scrub.
The late-stage engine-start failure and subsequent pause highlight operational and schedule risks for the upgraded Starship V3. These issues complicate the program’s near-term test cadence as SpaceX addresses reliability and launch-readiness challenges.
