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A SpaceX Starship fires its engines briefly before Thursday’s test flight was aborted. It was unclear what caused the shutdown or when the 13th test flight might be rescheduled.<\/p>\n
Eric Gay\/Associated Press<\/p>\n
6:15 p.m update: SpaceX CEO Elon Musk confirmed Thursday\u2019s planned launch was aborted due to engine problems.<\/p>\n
Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n
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A SpaceX Starship is prepared for a test flight this evening from\u00a0Starbase in South Texas.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Eric Gay\/Associated Press<\/p>\n
SpaceX\u2019s Starship stands at the launch pad at Starbase in South Texas ahead of its 13th test flight.<\/p>\n
SpaceX<\/p>\n
\u201cSome of the engines didn\u2019t start, triggering an automatic launch abort,\u201d he said on X<\/a>. \u201cNext launch attempt hopefully in a few days.\u201d<\/p>\n A real-time image showing the flight status during the SpaceX livestream indicated\u00a0that only some of the Super Heavy Booster\u2019s 33 Raptor engines ignited before the abort.<\/p>\n 6:10 p.m. update: Planned test flights followed by a launch on another day are nothing new for\u00a0SpaceX at Starbase. Seven of the 12 Starship launches so far have slipped at least one day due to problems with the rocket or weather.\u00a0Five have lifted off on the first target date.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n 6 p.m. update: SpaceX was unable to restart its countdown for another launch attempt\u00a0\u2014 as has happened during previous launch holds\u00a0\u2014 because there wasn\u2019t enough water.\u00a0<\/p>\n San Antonio Express News Logo<\/p>\n Make us a Preferred Source on Google to see more of us when you search.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Add Preferred Source<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n When the Super Heavy booster\u2019s 33 Raptor engines briefly fired, it triggered the water deluge system under the rocket, which diffuses heat and vibration. Though the engines were immediately shut down, the system released thousands of gallons of water from tanks that will need to be refilled\u00a0 before the next launch attempt.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n 5:46 p.m. update: SpaceX aborted today\u2019s planned test flight of its Starship mega-rocket after engines on the lower-stage booster began to fire, then shut down.<\/p>\n It\u00a0 was too early to say exactly what happened and when the next attempt could be scheduled.<\/p>\n \u201cNot the end result you\u2019re looking for, but we\u2019ve still got a vehicle on the pad,\u201d SpaceX spokesman Dan Huot said.\u00a0 \u201cHopefully, we\u2019ll be back real soon for Flight 13 and another attempt to get Starship off the pad.\u201d<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n 5:40 p.m. update: The countdown continues toward launch with about 5 minutes to go before today\u2019s launch window opens.<\/p>\n SpaceX began fueling the mega-rocket with tons of liquid oxygen and methane at 5:10 p.m. It was set for completion about 5:43 p.m.<\/p>\n \u201cGood news is very little news,\u201d\u00a0SpaceX spokesman Dan Huot said.\u00a0\u201cWe are continuing to look on track for a liftoff today, not tracking any issues on the vehicle or the pad side.\u201d<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n The weather looks \u201cgorgeous,\u201d he said, with blue skies and low winds. \u201cWe\u2019re looking good. We\u2019re counting down.\u201d<\/p>\n 5:35 p.m. update: The 20 next-generation Starlink satellites set to be deployed on today\u2019s test flight will only have about 20 minutes to attempt a series of activation and connection tests before they reenter Earth\u2019s atmosphere,\u00a0SpaceX said.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cStarlink V3 is our next generation satellite design that includes meaningful increases in capacity, data density, and power generation,\u201d the company said. \u201cThese enhancements, along with Starship\u2019s payload capacity to orbit, will enable us to scale the constellation and serve millions of more customers around the world with increasingly better service.\u201d<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n 5:25 p.m. update: Today\u2019s flight path will be the second along a new trajectory that sends Starship southeast from\u00a0Starbase over the Gulf of Mexico. It\u2019s expected to fly south of Cuba and continue over the Caribbean and Atlantic toward southern Africa before splashing down in the Indian Ocean northwest of Australia.<\/p>\n A Starship Super Heavy booster returns to the launch pad during a January 2025 test flight from\u00a0Starbase.<\/p>\n Eric Gay\/Associated Press file photo<\/p>\n The flight path was among three the FAA approved for\u00a0SpaceX earlier this year, as it plans to eventually bring an upper-stage Starship back to land at its\u00a0Starbase tower.\u00a0While\u00a0SpaceX has successfully landed the craft\u2019s booster back at Starbase, it has yet to attempt the feat with a Starship upper stage.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Musk has said that\u00a0SpaceX won\u2019t attempt a tower catch for Starship until it has had \u201ctwo perfect soft landings in the ocean\u201d because \u201cthe risk of the ship breaking up over land needs to be very low.\u201d<\/p>\n The last flight\u2019s landing in the Indian Ocean appeared to go as planned, and a successful splashdown today could clear the way for a catch attempt in an upcoming launch.<\/p>\n SpaceX is still clearing regulatory hurdles for flying the craft over land.\u00a0The FAA is seeking public input on\u00a0SpaceX\u2019s contingency plans that would expand landing areas off the coast of Hawaii and South America as well as add new zone that in the Pacific that stretches from the Aleutian Islands to the U.S. mainland.<\/p>\n The agency is also seeking feedback on an additional return trajectory that could impact airspace over six states\u00a0\u2014 Oregon, California, Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n The FAA has said the path could impact 90 air traffic routes and up to 600 flights per hour.<\/p>\n 5:15 p.m. update: A live webcast of today\u2019s test flight has begun, signaling that the countdown remains on track for a 5:45 p.m. launch.\u00a0<\/p>\n It can be accessed via the\u00a0SpaceX website here<\/a> and on X @SpaceX<\/a>.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Though the 90-minute launch window opens at 5:45 p.m.,\u00a0SpaceX says: \u201cAs is the case with all developmental testing, the schedule is dynamic and likely to change.\u201d So keep checking this liveblog for updates.<\/p>\n 5:05\u00a0p.m. update:\u00a0SpaceX<\/a> has its Starship mega-rocket ready for launch from South Texas and remains on track for a 5:45\u00a0p.m. launch.<\/p>\n Though parts of Texas has been contending with flash flooding<\/a> and heavy rain, the weather around\u00a0Boca Chica Beach is still favorable for today\u2019s test flight, the first since SpaceX went public and the first to carry a payload of actual Starlink<\/a> satellites.\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n The test will resemble past flights, with the craft\u2019s booster expected to land in the Gulf of Mexico while the upper-stage Starship will travel around the world at the edge of space for a landing in the Indian Ocean. \u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n The 20 Starlink satellites it will release won\u2019t join the company\u2019s constellation of about 10,800 orbiters providing internet connectivity to millions of people around the world. Instead, they will extend solar arrays and antennas and test \u201chigh-capacity lasers\u201d to connect to the constellation before burning up in the atmosphere about 20 minutes after deployment.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A SpaceX Starship fires its engines briefly before Thursday’s test flight was aborted. 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