SpaceX Scrubs Starship Flight 13 as Mars Deadline Looms Over a Rocket Yet to Reach Orbit

SpaceX aborted Starship Flight 13 on July 16, 2026, after Super Heavy booster engines failed to start during ignition at Starbase, Texas. Elon Musk said a retry would come "hopefully in a few days." The mission was to deploy first third-generation Starlink satellites — a step toward orbital data centers and a planned uncrewed Mars voyage by end of 2026. Starship has never reached Earth orbit.