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2w ago

SpaceX Sets July 23 Retry for Starship Flight 13 After T‑0 Engine Abort

Testing engine‑startup fixes along with deployment of 20 Starlink V3 satellites will help determine when Starship can move from experimental flights to operational missions.

The two robotic arms of Northrop Grumman's Mission Robotic Vehicle (MRV) are shown here at the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory during integration onto the spacecraft. Credit: Northrop Grumman, via U.S. Naval Research Laboratory, Public Domain
A SpaceX Starship fires its engines briefly before Thursday’s test flight was aborted. The 13th test flight has been rescheduled for Thursday. 
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Overview

  • SpaceX announced it is targeting Thursday, July 23 for a second attempt at the 13th integrated Starship test after the vehicle auto‑aborted at T‑0 when several Super Heavy Raptor engines failed to ignite.
  • In response to the July 16 abort, engineers removed and replaced at least two Raptor engines and applied hardware and software changes to the propulsion and engine‑startup sequence to improve ignition and relight reliability.
  • Flight 13 will carry 20 Starlink V3 satellites on a suborbital trajectory that will deploy and then re‑enter, and six of those satellites will image Starship’s heat shield to collect tile performance and attachment data.
  • Mission goals also include an in‑space Raptor relight, a boostback and landing‑burn test for the Super Heavy booster, and collection of telemetry that regulators, NASA and investors will use to judge program progress.
  • Starship’s iterative test program has faced recurring engine‑startup and relight problems and a recent FAA mishap review; the outcome of this flight will shape timelines for using Starship for large Starlink launches and future NASA missions.