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SpaceX scrubs Starship Flight 13 minutes after engines ignite
Flight 13 was set as Starship Version 3’s second test launch, but at least four Raptor engines failed to ignite, and SpaceX will attempt the launch again Monday after replacing two engines.
Space Exploration Technologies Corp., known as SpaceX, scrubbed Starship Flight 13 after the countdown reached zero, even though the engines had already ignited, according to The Motley Fool via Yahoo Finance. The setback adds another delay for CEO Elon Musk’s Starship timeline and keeps the rocket on the launch pad with its propellant removed.
The Starship system at issue is the 407-foot tall spacecraft and its Super Heavy booster, powered by 33 Raptor rockets. The article notes that each Raptor is capable of producing 50,000 pounds of force at liftoff, and it frames Starship’s larger cargo capacity of over 100 metric tonnes as a way to reduce the cost per ton of payloads delivered to space.
Flight 13 was scheduled to be the second test launch of Starship’s Version 3. The piece says Version 1 saw six test flights in 2023 to 2024, while Version 2 logged five test launches in 2025.
According to the article, at least four Raptor engines failed to ignite during Thursday’s countdown, and SpaceX said it is replacing two of them before trying again on Monday evening. It also points to prior testing, including Flight 12 on May 22, which succeeded after a scrubbed May 21 attempt, but involved ignition and relight failures during the flight.