SpaceX's Starship rocket aborted its 13th flight test just seconds before liftoff in Texas on Thursday after some of its 33 engines failed to start. CEO Elon Musk said the company is likely to make another launch attempt early next week.
The rocket's engines ignited but shut down shortly afterwards, forcing SpaceX to cancel the planned launch at 5:45 p.m. CT (2245 GMT).
SpaceX spokesperson Dan Huot said the company had initiated a hold on the booster while starting the Raptor engines, leading to the aborted liftoff.
“Some of the engines didn't start, triggering an automatic launch abort,” SpaceX CEO Elon Musk said in a post on X. He did not specify how many engines failed but said two Raptor engines would be removed and replaced before the next attempt.
“To be confident of a good flight, 2 Raptors will be removed & replaced. Most probable launch timing is early next week,” Musk added.
The launch setback comes as Starship plays a central role in NASA's plans to return astronauts to the Moon. The space agency has selected SpaceX and Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin to develop lunar landers for future Artemis missions.
Both companies are expected to have their lunar vehicles - SpaceX's Starship and Blue Origin's Blue Moon - ready for upcoming missions.
NASA plans to use one of these landers for the Artemis III mission, which aims to return astronauts to the lunar surface for the first time in more than 50 years.
Shares of SpaceX, which went public last month, fell about 3% in after-hours trading following the launch cancellation.
The stock closed at $131.11 on Thursday, dropping below its $135 initial public offering price for the first time since listing.
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An agreement between Iran and the U.S. to reopen the Strait of Hormuz is expected "soon," a U.S. official has said. The deal would result in the resumption of commercial shipping through the sea passage and the lifting of an American naval blockade on Iranian ports.
Flights arriving at Catania airport in eastern Sicily were suspended after volcanic ash from a new eruption of Mount Etna drifted into the airspace around the airport, disrupting operations at one of Italy’s busiest aviation hubs.
A deal on a new route for vessels through the Strait of Hormuz is "very close," Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has said, while warning that the reopening of the waterway depends on the U.S. meeting other conditions, including paying compensation to Iran.
Start your day informed with AnewZ Morning Brief. Here are the top news stories for the 9th of August, covering the latest developments.
Iran said it was nearing a final pact with Oman defining new shipping lanes between them through the Strait of Hormuz but repeated that the U.S. must meet other conditions.
Parts of Europe and the Arctic will briefly fall into darkness on Wednesday, 12 August, as the Moon passes between Earth and the Sun in a total solar eclipse.
Meta said one of its AI models hacked another company's systems during cybersecurity testing, intensifying concerns about how developers can contain increasingly capable AI systems following similar incidents involving Anthropic and OpenAI.
Scientists say the accidental crash of a discarded SpaceX rocket stage into the moon has provided valuable data on impact cratering while posing no threat to Earth or lunar hardware.
AI agents developed by Anthropic and OpenAI carried out unauthorised online actions during cybersecurity tests, including creating fake identities to deceive real people and attempting to plant malicious code, the U.K.'s AI Security Institute (AISI) said on Tuesday (5 August).
SpaceX has reported a sharp rise in quarterly revenue, fuelled by strong demand for its Starlink satellite internet service and rapid growth in its artificial intelligence (AI) business.
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