Spacex Starship Flight 13 Aborts; Next Try Set for Thursday

SpaceX's Starship rocket aborted its 13th test flight at the last second on July 16, 2026, after four of 33 Raptor engines on the Super Heavy booster failed to ignite, triggering an automatic launch abort. The company has since pushed the next attempt to Thursday, July 23, citing propulsion system modifications Source: arstechnica, thenextweb.

What happened

During the countdown at Starbase, Texas, the engines began igniting but four did not start, causing an automatic hold. SpaceX spokesperson Dan Huot confirmed the abort on the livestream Source: cna. Elon Musk said two engines will be replaced Source: euronewsen. The flight was to deploy 20 Starlink V3 satellites and demonstrate an in-space engine relight Source: thenextweb.

Market impact

SpaceX's stock, which went public in June, fell over 3% in after-hours trading on the abort, continuing a five-day losing streak and closing below its IPO price of $135 Source: cnbc. The company's market value had already dropped about $100 billion after the earlier scrub on July 16 Source: cna.

What's next

SpaceX has modified Starship's propulsion system and aims to launch on Thursday, July 23, pending completion of engine replacements Source: thenextweb, cna. NASA, which depends on Starship for Artemis lunar landings, will be watching closely Source: apnews. The mission is critical for deploying operational Starlink V3 satellites and proving Starship's reusability.