SpaceX Starship Flight 13 set for new launch attempt after abort and weather

SpaceX has scheduled Starship Flight 13 for another launch attempt on Friday, July 24, after a last-second engine-start abort on July 16 and a weather scrub a day earlier. The 90-minute window opens at 5:45 p.m. CT, and the test matters because Starship still has to prove capabilities NASA needs for Artemis lunar missions.

SpaceX said the latest delay was weather-related. The company said one goal for the flight is to capture clear ground-based imagery of Starship’s heat shield while the vehicle is under higher dynamic pressure during ascent, and that the conditions would not support that on the scrubbed attempt. SpaceX said visibility was expected to be better for the Friday window.

When is Starship Flight 13 launching?

The launch window for Starship’s 13th flight test is scheduled to open at 5:45 p.m. CT on Friday, July 24, and run for 90 minutes. As with prior Starship tests, the timing can change quickly if SpaceX sees a vehicle issue or if weather no longer supports the test objectives.

The earlier July 16 attempt stopped in the final seconds after some of the Super Heavy booster’s Raptor engines did not start. Elon Musk said at the time that two Raptors would be removed and replaced.

The Register reported that SpaceX did not conduct a static fire test of the booster with the replacement engines on July 22, and that activity appeared to be closer to a leak check. The Register said it asked SpaceX what testing was performed and had not received a response. SpaceX said only in a post on X that additional preflight testing on Super Heavy was complete.

What SpaceX plans to test

If the flight proceeds as planned, the mission should run a little over an hour. Super Heavy is expected to separate after launch and perform a controlled splashdown in the Gulf of Mexico. Starship is planned to use its Raptor engines to reach a suborbital trajectory before coming down in the Indian Ocean.

Before re-entry, SpaceX plans to deploy 20 Starlink V3 satellites. Those satellites are expected to remain on the same suborbital path as the vehicle. The company also plans to attempt a Raptor engine relight, a step SpaceX needs to demonstrate as it works toward putting Starship into orbit.

The heat-shield imaging objective is also central to this attempt. SpaceX wants ground views of the vehicle during a more demanding part of ascent, when aerodynamic loads are higher. Poor visibility would limit the usefulness of that data, which is why the company cited weather as a reason to stand down.

Why this flight is under scrutiny

Starship is being watched beyond SpaceX’s own test campaign. NASA requires Starship to have orbital capability for Artemis III in 2027, and the agency also needs a launch cadence high enough to support a lunar landing mission in 2028. Each slipped attempt narrows the time available for SpaceX to prove the vehicle, the booster, engine relight, re-entry behavior and operational tempo.

The July 16 abort also keeps attention on the Raptor engines. The Register noted speculation that last-second shutdowns, whether during a static fire or a launch attempt, may be hard on the engines. SpaceX has not publicly provided a detailed account of the testing done after replacing the two Raptors, beyond saying preflight testing was complete.

This story draws on original reporting from The Register.