SpaceX Aborts Second Starship V3 Launch After Ignition

Engine Failure Triggers Automatic Abort, Casting Doubt on Starship's Readiness for Orbit

SpaceX abruptly aborted the second attempted launch of its upgraded Starship rocket system on Thursday, just moments after the booster ignited at the company's complex in South Texas. CEO Elon Musk said in a post on X that "[s]ome of the engines didn’t start, triggering an automatic launch abort" and that the company would try again "hopefully in a few days."

This is also SpaceX's first Starship test launch attempt since it went public on June 12 in the largest IPO in history. The company raised more than $85 billion in the transaction and briefly touched the valuations of Amazon and Microsoft, though its stock has steadily fallen over the intervening month.

On Thursday, SpaceX's stock price closed below its IPO price of $135. Its stock sank more than 4% in after-hours trading after the aborted launch.

What Went Wrong This Time

SpaceX was trying to return to flight just a few weeks after the first-ever launch of Starship V3 in May. That mission was a mixed bag. Getting off the launch pad with the first version of a newly upgraded rocket was a big step forward, and the company was able to deploy a number of Starlink simulators into space. But the Super Heavy booster stage suffered a failure before it could attempt a simulated landing in the Gulf of Mexico, leading to an FAA-ordered review of what went wrong.

Starship's Ambitious Plans

Starship's upper stage also lost an engine on its way to deploying the Starlink simulators during the May mission. The upper stage was able to perform its own simulated landing over the water without a hitch. SpaceX was hoping to take another step forward Thursday by launching the V3 Starlink satellites. The upgraded Starship and Starlink are key to SpaceX's incredibly ambitious plans to prove that the concept of "orbital data centers" is both technologically and economically viable.

What's Next for SpaceX

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SpaceX now has to take all the propellant out of both the Super Heavy booster and the upper stage, before determining exactly what went wrong on Thursday. The company will likely take some time to investigate and fix the issue before attempting another launch. For now, the future of Starship remains uncertain, casting doubt on SpaceX's ability to reach orbit with its upgraded rocket system.