According to AFP, on July 16 (local time), aerospace company SpaceX suddenly canceled the Starship rocket test right before takeoff after some engines did not start as expected.
Some engines are not starting, causing the automatic launch deactivation system to be activated. We are currently releasing fuel. Hopefully we will try launching again in the next few days" - SpaceX CEO Elon Musk said on social network X.
This is expected to be Starship's 13th test flight, and also the first launch since SpaceX officially listed on the stock exchange in June.
According to the plan, Starship will achieve targets similar to the test flight in May, which marked the first time the third generation Starship version was put into testing. The main goal is to verify improvements in design and evaluate missile performance in real flight conditions.
However, the May flight still had some problems. The super heavy propulsion stage encountered engine failure, falling into the Gulf of Mexico instead of returning to the exact landing position.
SpaceX said it has upgraded both hardware and software to overcome problems arising during the May test launch.
In the latest launch, the company aims to complete the entire chain of missions including takeoff, altitude increase, layer separation, turnaround and offshore booster landing.
The upper layer of Starship is expected to put 20 Starlink V3 satellites into orbit, while testing the ability to restart the Raptor engine in space and evaluating improvements to the heat shield system.
The development progress of Starship is of particular interest to observers, especially as SpaceX is implementing a contract with NASA to develop an improved version of this vehicle as a landing system for the program to bring humans back to the Moon.
In addition, SpaceX is also rapidly expanding the Starlink satellite internet service and pursuing the ambition to build artificial intelligence (AI) data centers in space.
