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Jilly_in_VA

(14,881 posts)
Fri Jul 17, 2026, 03:34 PM Yesterday

SpaceX Starship launch aborted on the pad at the last moment

SpaceX’s mega Starship rocket came within a second or so from blasting off on a test flight Thursday, but some of the engines failed to ignite, triggering a launch abort amid billowing clouds of smoke and vapor.

Elon Musk, the company’s founder and CEO, said two engines will be replaced “to be confident of a good flight” before sending Starship from Texas on a space-skimming journey halfway around the world. It will be the 13th flight for Starship, which at 407 feet (124 meters) tall with 33 main engines is the world’s biggest and most powerful rocket.

SpaceX’s launch webcast showed the start of engine ignition three seconds before the planned liftoff, viewed from a drone high above the pad. Although the company did not elaborate, onscreen data showed four engines not firing, with the remaining 29 engines immediately shutting down and keeping the rocket anchored to the pad. It was the first time a full-scale Starship experienced a last-second abort like this.

The launch team immediately began draining the fuel from the rocket.

https://apnews.com/article/starship-spacex-rocket-musk-nasa-455927b93b0fdc5512a4567a53eb3228

Of, as my husband commented, "Eloon just couldn't get it up today."

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SpaceX Starship launch aborted on the pad at the last moment (Original Post) Jilly_in_VA Yesterday OP
It had low T Johonny Yesterday #1
Space-X stock $124 today, below the $135 IPO price bucolic_frolic Yesterday #2
I wanted to see another explosion Henry203 23 hrs ago #3
Oops. The Madcap 22 hrs ago #4
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