SpaceX因天氣不佳，將其巨型星艦火箭的第13次試飛從週四推遲至週五。此次發射原定於德州南部星際基地進行，火箭將搭載升級版星鏈衛星進入太空，這些衛星隨後將在大氣層中燃燒殆盡，作為測試任務的一部分。這是繼上週發射中止後的再次延期，令這一關鍵里程碑的壓力進一步加大。

上週四的發射嘗試在點火時刻被緊急中止，馬斯克在X平台發文稱部分引擎未能點燃，觸發了自動中止程序，隨後需更換兩台引擎。儘管發射中止在火箭行業並不罕見，但SpaceX股價在盤後交易中下跌約3%，隨後繼續下滑，市值較上市第三天的峰值蒸發了一萬億美元。分析師指出，這凸顯了星艦邁向高頻可重複使用運營過程中持續存在的執行風險。

星艦是馬斯克實現太空數據中心、擴展星鏈通訊網絡以及載人登月和火星計劃的核心。SpaceX已投入超過150億美元開發星艦，並持有NASA約40億美元的合同用於最早2028年的載人登月任務。下一次試飛計劃包括超重型助推器點燃33台猛禽引擎、部署20顆星鏈衛星、在太空中重新點燃引擎，以及星艦最終在印度洋濺落。

SpaceX postponed Flight 13 of its massive Starship rocket from Thursday to Friday due to unfavorable weather, adding to delays after an aborted launch attempt the previous week. The rocket is set to carry upgraded Starlink satellites into space that will later burn up in the atmosphere as part of the test mission. This will be Starship's first flight since SpaceX's record-breaking $86 billion IPO in June.

Last week's launch attempt was automatically aborted at liftoff when some of Starship's engines failed to ignite, requiring the replacement of two engines. The incident triggered a roughly 3% drop in SpaceX shares in postmarket trading, and the stock continued to fall, erasing $1 trillion in market value from its peak. Analysts noted the selloff reflects investor sensitivity to execution risks inherent in SpaceX's iterative test-and-learn development strategy, though some industry observers argued it reveals a lack of understanding of how the space industry operates.

Starship is central to Elon Musk's vision for orbital data centers, an expanded Starlink network, and crewed missions to the Moon and Mars. SpaceX has invested over $15 billion in its development and holds approximately $4 billion in NASA contracts for lunar astronaut landings targeted for 2028. The upcoming mission plan includes the Super Heavy booster firing 33 Raptor engines, deploying 20 Starlink satellites with laser communications, and concluding with Starship splashing down in the Indian Ocean roughly one hour after liftoff.