SpaceX Starship Flight 13 Launch Aborted Seconds From Liftoff: What the Engine Halt Means for Starlink Users

The world's most powerful rocket stayed on the pad at Starbase, Texas, after its flight computer halted the countdown at zero (Credit: Starship Gazer/X)

SpaceX aborted the thirteenth test flight of its Starship megarocket at the final second on Thursday evening in Texas after several Raptor engines failed to ignite, delaying the first launch of upgraded Starlink V3 internet satellites.

The rocket's automated flight computer called a hold at T-0 on 16 July at the company's Starbase site in South Texas, just as the Super Heavy booster's 33 Raptor engines began to light. The launch window had opened at 6:45 p.m. Eastern time.