Musk’s Space X aborted mission!
Musk
Washington, Jul 16 (EFE).-
Aerospace giant SpaceX aborted the thirteenth mission of its heavy-lift Starship rocket on Thursday, moments before ignition on the launchpad.
The company stated it is currently unaware why its automated systems halted the launch sequence at zero countdown at Starbase, SpaceX’s launch facility on the eastern coast of Texas.
Founder and CEO Elon Musk noted in a post on X that “Some of the engines didn’t start, triggering an automatic launch abort,” though he did not specify the cause of the failure.
Because the countdown was interrupted so late in the process, the operation cannot be resumed. The company must now drain the liquid methane and liquid oxygen from the rocket and postpone the thirteenth test flight.
Musk added that the “next launch attempt hopefully in a few days.”
The launch had been scheduled for 6:45 p.m. local time. This was intended to be the second flight of the year and the second for this specific model, which made its maiden flight on May 22.
SpaceX had stated that this mission was aimed at refining the performance of the third version of the most powerful rocket ever built, particularly regarding its Super Heavy booster, which serves as the first stage of the spacecraft.
Beyond completing the launch, ascent, and stage separation, the mission was intended to demonstrate the successful re-ignition of Super Heavy’s engines for the return and landing phase, which was to take place on a platform in the Gulf of Mexico.
This marks the first time Starship has been equipped with next-generation Starlink V3 satellites.
The mission plan involved the suborbital deployment of twenty V3 satellites. They were scheduled to have 20 minutes to connect to the primary Starlink constellation via high-capacity lasers before disintegrating upon re-entry.
NASA is closely monitoring the program, as it relies on this third iteration of Starship to transport astronauts to the lunar surface for the Artemis mission.
The crewed mission to the Moon has been postponed from late 2026 to mid-2027, partly due to delays in the rocket’s development.
SpaceX faces direct competition from Blue Origin, the aerospace company founded by tycoon Jeff Bezos, which offers its Blue Moon system as an alternative.
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