SpaceX has set Thursday, July 23 as its next target date to launch the Starship rocket, according to a company statement released Sunday.
Adding some confusion to the announcement, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk took to X on Sunday to say the upcoming Starship launch would take place on Friday — directly contradicting his own company’s earlier statement. Musk offered no clarification on whether the Thursday date was incorrect.
The new launch attempt follows a dramatic failure on July 16, when Starship triggered an automatic abort just before liftoff during what would have been its 13th test flight from Texas. That abort wiped out roughly $100 billion in the company’s market value.
SpaceX says engineers have made changes to Starship’s propulsion system to resolve the engine problem that caused the abort during the previous flight attempt.
Delays are nothing new for the $15 billion rocket development program, which has become well known for both its bold engineering milestones and its share of explosive test failures. As recently as Friday, the company had announced July 20 as the planned launch date before pushing it back again.
Since 2023, SpaceX has conducted 12 Starship test flights. On this 13th attempt, the rocket is set to carry 20 Starlink satellites into space to test its satellite-deployment system and laser communication technology. However, those satellites will follow a suborbital path and burn up in Earth’s atmosphere shortly after being released.
SpaceX has stated in its prospectus that it plans to launch the first operational Starlink satellites into orbit aboard Starship before the end of this year, with routine launches to follow.
