Starship Flight 13 Scrubbed: Two Raptors Replaced, Relaunch Eyed for Next Week

📌 UPDATE — July 17, 2026

SpaceX has officially confirmed a new launch target for Starship Flight 13: Monday, July 20th at 6:45 PM ET, with a 90-minute window. The date was first reported by Joe Tegtmeyer, who noted a slightly earlier start time of 5:45 PM CT — the discrepancy reflects the CT/ET difference. SpaceX cautions that the schedule remains subject to change pending booster inspections and any additional engine swaps once the booster returns to Megabay 1. This moves the re-attempt from a vague "early next week" to a firm target date.

SpaceX's Starship Flight 13 was aborted at T-0 on Thursday, July 16, after a portion of the Super Heavy booster's Raptor engines failed to ignite during the launch sequence. Within hours, Elon Musk confirmed the path forward: two Raptor engines will be removed and replaced, with the next launch attempt now targeting early next week — most likely sometime during the week of July 20, 2026.

What Triggered the Abort

According to data visible on SpaceX's own livestream dashboard, only 29 of the Super Heavy booster's 33 Raptor engines successfully ignited at T-0. The vehicle's automated abort system did exactly what it was designed to do — cut the sequence before liftoff rather than risk an anomaly in flight. No hardware was lost, and the vehicle remains on the launch mount at Starbase in South Texas.

Musk's confirmation that two specific Raptors will be swapped out — rather than a software or fueling fix — signals that the root cause has been identified at the engine level. Raptor engine replacement on the pad is a known procedure for SpaceX, though it does add days to the turnaround timeline.

What's at Stake on Flight 13

This isn't a routine test hop. Flight 13 is the second launch of the Starship Version 3 (V3) configuration and carries a meaningful payload milestone: 20 functional Starlink V3 satellites. If successful, it would mark the first time Starship has delivered operational satellites to orbit — a critical step toward the vehicle becoming a genuine commercial launch platform rather than a development testbed.

The mission also has unfinished business from Flight 12 (May 22, 2026), which suffered its own engine anomaly — an engine-out event on the Starship upper stage. Flight 13's objectives include demonstrating improved booster course accuracy and more reliable Raptor engine relight performance during the boostback burn. Neither of those objectives can be evaluated if the vehicle never leaves the ground, which is precisely why SpaceX chose to stand down and fix the problem rather than attempt a launch with a known engine deficit.

The Pattern Worth Watching

Two consecutive flights encountering Raptor ignition or in-flight engine issues is a data point that deserves honest acknowledgment. Flight 12 had an upper-stage engine-out; Flight 13 couldn't get all 33 booster engines lit at T-0. SpaceX has consistently demonstrated a willingness to scrub and fix rather than push through — which is the right call — but Raptor reliability at scale remains an open engineering challenge as the program moves toward higher flight rates.

The silver lining is procedural: the abort happened cleanly, the vehicle is intact, and a specific corrective action is already underway. Musk's public confirmation of both the problem and the fix within hours of the scrub is consistent with how SpaceX has communicated throughout the Starship development program.

No firm launch date has been set as of July 17. With engine replacement work beginning now, an early-week window — Monday through Wednesday, July 21–23 — appears most plausible, though weather, FAA licensing windows, and post-repair checkouts will all factor into the final call. Follow our SpaceX coverage for updates as the new launch date is confirmed.

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This report was curated by the BASENOR Editorial Desk from the sources listed above. Read our editorial standards or email editorial@basenor.com to report an error.