SpaceX is targeting next week for another attempt to launch its Starship rocket after a last-second abort during engine ignition on Thursday. The company’s Starship rocket ignited its engines for a 13th test flight from Texas, but stopped short of lifting off when an automated abort command shut the engines down early.
Launch Delay
A launch delay for the $15 billion rocket development program is not uncommon. Still, SpaceX shares have dropped by roughly 6% to $124.30 since the abort, erasing roughly $100 billion in equity value. SpaceX plans to replace two of the booster’s Raptor engines to be confident of a good flight.
Most probable launch timing is early next week, according to SpaceX’s website. The share price drop offers an early glimpse into how the newly public company’s investors might judge the progress of a high-tech rocket program on which SpaceX’s most lofty ambitions rely.
Starship Program
SpaceX has launched 12 Starship test flights since 2023, some ending in explosive failures and other hard testing setbacks that have become hallmarks of SpaceX’s test-to-failure development ethos. The pressure is rising for Starship to begin operational flights after nearly a decade in development and over $15 billion spent so far.
Two pillars of SpaceX’s future growth hinge on Starship: expanding the Starlink network to beam service directly to mobile devices and eventually launching thousands to potentially a million AI-processing satellites into space. SpaceX aims to launch the first Starlink satellites to orbit on Starship by year’s end, followed by routine launches.
Original reporting: Appleton, WI News Feed (HLL/CB) — read the source article.
