Starship Stopped Just Before Launch; Musk Says, "We Will Try Again Next Week"

[Financial News] The test launch of Starship, SpaceX's giant spacecraft, came to a halt just before liftoff. CEO Elon Musk said the cause was an "engine malfunction" and added that the company would try again early next week.
According to major foreign media outlets on the 16th local time, Starship's 13th test flight, which was being prepared at Starbase in Texas, was aborted just seconds before the scheduled launch time. Some of the spacecraft's 33 main engines failed to ignite, triggering the automatic abort system.
On X (formerly Twitter), Musk wrote that SpaceX would replace two engines for a successful flight and said the most likely launch window was early next week.
Starship is a 124-meter-tall launch vehicle developed by SpaceX. It can carry more cargo and satellites than the Falcon 9. It is expected to help SpaceX secure a leading position in the private space development market.
SpaceX has invested $15 billion in Starship development alone and has also signed a contract with NASA to send the vehicle on lunar exploration missions.
However, every one of SpaceX's 12 test launches has revealed major or minor flaws.
On May 22, the next-generation V3 model of Starship successfully launched, but the booster failed to reignite its engines for a landing burn and fell into the Gulf of Mexico.
This was also the first test launch attempted since SpaceX's massive initial public offering (IPO) last month. News of the delay sent SpaceX shares down 3% in after-hours trading. The stock had already closed lower for five consecutive sessions since the 10th local time.

taeil0808@fnnews.com Kim Tae-il Reporter