SpaceX moves Starship launch attempt to Thursday

July 19 (Reuters) - SpaceX ‌is targeting ​Thursday, ​July 23, for another attempt to launch its Starship rocket, the company said in a ‌statement on Sunday.

SpaceX CEO Elon Musk initially posted ⁠on X that the next Starship launch would occur on ‌Friday. He later replied ‌to that post, saying, "I mean Thursday," aligning with the company's earlier statement.

On July 16, SpaceX's Starship rocket ​triggered a last-second abort before liftoff for its 13th flight test from Texas, which erased about $100 ⁠billion from the company's market value.

SpaceX said it has modified Starship's propulsion ​system to address the engine issue experienced on the previous flight.

A launch delay for ​the $15 billion rocket development program ‌better known for dramatic engineering feats and explosive testing failures is not uncommon.

Last Friday, ⁠SpaceX said it would attempt the launch on July 20.

The company has launched 12 Starship test flights since 2023.

On ⁠its 13th flight test, Starship will carry 20 Starlink satellites ​to demonstrate its satellite-dispensing system and the Starlink network's laser communication links, but those satellites will follow the ship's suborbital trajectory ‌and burn up in Earth's atmosphere soon after deployment.

In its prospectus, SpaceX said ‌that it aims to launch the first Starlink satellites ⁠to orbit on Starship ‌by year's end, ​followed by routine launches.

(Reporting by Gursimran Kaur in Bengaluru; Editing by Matthew Lewis and Sherry ‌Jacob-Phillips)

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