SpaceX aborted the launch of its Starship rocket less than a second before liftoff on its 13th test flight on Thursday, according to Index and Novi list. The automatic abort occurred because one engine failed to start, company chief Elon Musk announced on the social media platform X.
The rocket was scheduled to lift off at 18:45 local time from Starbase, SpaceX’s development centre in southern Texas. "We stopped the thrust while the Raptor engines were beginning to ignite," company spokesperson Dan Hout said during a live broadcast, announcing that SpaceX would first investigate the cause of the abort before deciding on further steps.
Fuel was offloaded from the rocket following the abort. Musk wrote on X that the company hopes for a new attempt "in a few days," while the flight has been postponed until next week to allow time to determine what caused the engine ignition failure.
