SpaceX is targeting another Starship test launch this week after aborting a launch attempt in Texas on July 16. The company initially targeted July 23, although chief executive Elon Musk later said the flight would take place on July 24.

The previous launch attempt was aborted after ignition when telemetry showed four Super Heavy booster engines didn’t ignite as expected.

SpaceX said the Flight 13 booster has hardware changes to improve relight reliability, and updated engine alarms and abort logic.

The Starship upper stage also received hardware and operational changes after Flight 12, when one of its three Raptor Vacuum engines shut down less than a minute after stage separation.

On that flight, the booster also had off-nominal engine performance, failed to complete a full boostback burn, and ended in a hard splashdown.

Flight 13 will also retry a coast-phase Raptor relight and a controlled booster landing, neither of which was achieved on Flight 12.

The Federal Aviation Administration said in May that SpaceX needed to complete a mishap investigation before Starship launches could resume.

The mission will carry 20 production Starlink V3 satellites on a suborbital flight. SpaceX said wider deployment of next-generation Starlink satellites depends on Starship.

🔗 Source: Reuters