SpaceX aborts Starship test flight at zero countdown over engine issues

SpaceX called off a much-anticipated test flight of its massive Starship rocket and Super Heavy booster on Thursday, stopping the countdown just as it reached zero at the company’s South Texas launch site.

The automated launch system at the Starbase facility in South Texas triggered an abort during the critical engine startup phase, halting the mission before liftoff.

With more than eleven million pounds of liquid methane and oxygen on board, the two-stage rocket stayed secured on the pad while engineers moved quickly to drain its fuel tanks.

SpaceX founder Elon Musk confirmed on the social media platform X that several of the mighty Raptor engines failed to ignite properly.

Ground teams will now meticulously work to replace two of the newest-generation engines on the Super Heavy booster, effectively pushing the next launch attempt to early next week.

Live video coverage showed that four out of the 33 engines on the booster failed to ignite, according to on-screen graphics during the broadcast.

This mission, officially known as Flight 13, is only the second time the company has flown the upgraded Version 3 rocket, equipped with the modern Raptor engine design.

Flight 13 carries major objectives for the aerospace company, primarily to correct mechanical issues encountered during a mostly successful test flight in May.

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In that earlier mission, small timing errors during engine startup led the Super Heavy booster to turn the wrong way after it separated from the upper stage.

Additionally, some engines failed to reignite during the landing sequence, preventing a controlled splashdown in the Gulf of Mexico.

Engineers also want to demonstrate successful engine reignition in the vacuum of space. This critical maneuver was skipped during the previous flight after an upper-stage engine shut down prematurely.

Achieving these technical milestones is vital for the future of Starship and its role in upcoming missions.

A successful test flight would open the door for future orbital missions, commercial Starlink launches, and new tests of in-orbit refueling.

Ultimately, these technical stepping stones will prepare the massive Starship system to support future lunar landings under the ambitious Artemis program managed by the national space agency, paving the way for eventual crewed missions to Mars.