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SpaceX's 13th Starship test flight launches after aborted attempt
SpaceX launched its 13th Starship test flight on July 25 after a previous attempt was aborted due to engine failure and a later postponement due to weather. The mission includes deploying 20 Starlink V3 satellites and a splashdown in the Indian Ocean.
SpaceX launched its 13th Starship test flight on Friday, July 25, after an earlier attempt was aborted at the last moment due to engine failure. The rocket lifted off at 6:51 p.m. EDT (10:51 p.m. GMT on July 24) from the Starbase launch facility in Boca Chica, Texas, as reported by TASS. The flight is expected to last about an hour, during which SpaceX plans to deploy 20 next-generation Starlink V3 satellites, six of which are equipped to monitor the prototype's heat shield. The spacecraft is scheduled to splash down in the Indian Ocean.
Coverage comparison
Two TASS reports cover the launch from different angles. The first, dated July 25, focuses on the successful launch, providing details about the mission and noting that the launch was originally scheduled for July 16 but was aborted at the last minute. SpaceX CEO Elon Musk explained that an automatic abort was triggered after several engines failed to ignite. A subsequent attempt on July 23 was postponed to July 24 due to unfavorable weather conditions.
The second report, dated July 17, covers the earlier aborted launch, quoting Musk's own words on the X social network: "Some of the engines didn’t start, triggering an automatic launch abort. Now offloading propellant." He added, "Next launch attempt hopefully in a few days." That report notes that the launch was called off just seconds before liftoff, during the engine burn.
Both reports describe the mission's broader context, including the previous test flight in May, which ended in an explosion after splashdown. SpaceX stated that engineers have since implemented software updates and resolved the issues identified during that flight.
Key claims
SpaceX aborted the 13th test flight of its Starship spacecraft due to engine failure. According to Elon Musk, "some of the engines didn't start," triggering an automatic launch abort. This claim is attributed to Musk himself via TASS.
The launch was originally scheduled for July 16 but was aborted due to engine failure. A subsequent attempt on July 23 was postponed to July 24 due to unfavorable weather conditions, as reported by TASS.
The flight is expected to last about an hour and deploy 20 next-generation Starlink V3 satellites, according to the July 25 TASS report.
The previous test launch (the 12th) took place in May and ended in explosion after splashdown. SpaceX said that engineers have updated the software and fixed problems identified during that flight, as reported by TASS.
The Starship space system is designed to be fully versatile, intended for crewed low-Earth orbit flights, satellite deployments, and deep-space missions to the Moon, Mars, and beyond. Both the Super Heavy booster and the Starship spacecraft are designed to be fully reusable and capable of vertical landings, according to SpaceX as cited by TASS.
How this outlet told it
TASS — English
Framing: Launch abortion — Informative
Facts Included:
SpaceX aborted the 13th test flight of its Starship spacecraft
The launch was called off due to engine failure
Elon Musk attributed the cancellation to an engine failure
The previous test launch took place in May and ended in explosion after splashdown
SpaceX plans to use the Starship space system for various missions
AI-extracted; can misattribute a claim — see Methodology.
Each row is one claim, attributed to the outlet whose wording states it most clearly. Confidence rates how directly the source text states the claim — explicit and unhedged rates high; hedged, pieced-together, or internally inconsistent statements rate lower. It does not measure whether the claim is true. Status counts the distinct outlets we found asserting it — so a single-source claim can still show high confidence, and a multi-source claim can show medium. Every one of those outlets is named beside the status, so you can check the count against the list. For claims extracted before we began storing that list, the row says so: it names the outlet the claim is quoted from and states that we have not recorded which outlets backed it. Outlets wrote at different times, so a figure that evolves — a casualty count, for example — can legitimately differ between rows; check the "as of" time next to each claim's source.
Claim
Confidence
Status
ClaimSpaceX aborted the 13th test flight of its Starship spacecraft due to engine failure. The launch was called off just seconds before the liftoff, during the engine burn.
ClaimThe launch was originally scheduled for July 16 but was aborted due to engine failure. A subsequent attempt on July 23 was postponed to July 24 due to unfavorable weather conditions.
ClaimThe Starship space system is designed to be fully versatile and capable of being used in various versions for manned flights to low-Earth orbit, satellite launches, and missions to the Moon and Mars, as well as to more distant celestial bodies.