SpaceX Aborts Starship Launch After Engine Startup Anomaly, Plans Quick Turnaround

SpaceX aborted a Starship launch attempt on July 16 at its Starbase facility in South Texas after multiple engines on the Super Heavy booster failed to start. The automatic abort occurred shortly after ignition during a 90-minute window that opened at 6:45 p.m. ET.

CEO Elon Musk said on X that some engines did not start, triggering the abort. He added that the company would remove and replace two Raptor engines and that the most probable timing for the next attempt is early next week. The test was the second flight of the Starship V3 vehicle and the first launch attempt since SpaceX's June 12 IPO.

The mission had planned to deploy 20 production Starlink V3 satellites on a suborbital trajectory, with the satellites expected to reenter and demise about 20 minutes after release. SpaceX shares closed below the $135 IPO price on July 16 and fell more than 3 percent in extended trading to $131.11. The stock had raised a total of $85.7 billion in the offering including underwriters' options.

The July 16 attempt followed the first V3 launch in May, which ended with the loss of the Super Heavy booster. The FAA completed its mishap review and cleared the vehicle to fly again on Monday, citing heat effects on propulsion components and erroneous engine alarm settings as the most probable root causes. SpaceX identified four corrective actions including hardware and software updates.