OUTERSPACE TODAYNEWS
← All editionsFriday, July 17, 2026 / Issue 035
[ OST Daily ]

SpaceX aborts Starship Flight 13 at engine ignition; Musk targets early next week

Outerspace Today6 min read / 2026-07-17
OST Daily July 17, 2026 — SpaceX aborts Starship Flight 13 at engine ignition when four of the Super Heavy booster’s 33 Raptor engines fail to light, with Elon Musk targeting another attempt early next week and SpaceX shares closing below their $135 IPO price, while the Space Development Agency reaches 63 satellites in its Tranche 1 Transport Layer after a Falcon 9 launches 21 more York-built spacecraft
The daily pictureOST editorial illustration · 2026-07-17
[ 01 ]

The briefing

SpaceX aborted the second flight of Starship V3 on Thursday evening at Starbase when Raptor engines on the Super Heavy booster failed to ignite, triggering an automatic hold. Elon Musk said two Raptors will be removed and replaced, with the next attempt most likely early next week. It was the first Starship attempt since SpaceX's June 12 IPO, and the stock, already on a five-day slide, fell more than 3% after hours and closed below its $135 offering price. The scrub keeps the upgraded stack and its 20 operational Starlink V3 satellites grounded for several more days.

Earlier the same day, a Falcon 9 lifted off from Vandenberg at 4:32 p.m. Eastern with 21 York Space Systems satellites for the Space Development Agency's Tranche 1 Transport Layer, the third batch and second York production lot. With the launch, Space Development Agency (SDA) now has 63 of a planned 126 Tranche 1 Transport Layer spacecraft in orbit. Director GP Sandhoo said the agency is moving to a readiness-based pace after thermal, ground-contact and propulsion issues on the first 42 satellites, and that three deployed planes let SDA begin discussing real capability for the warfighter.

SWISSto12 closed a $70 million Series C to scale its 3D-printed radio-frequency products and HummingSat small geostationary line, and Lockheed Martin was named prime on a $10.5 billion, 12-year U.S. Special Operations Command logistics and sustainment contract. Voyager Technologies signed Geisinger as the first clinical partner in its VISTA microgravity research institute anchored around Starlab.

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The headlines

01

SpaceX aborts Starship Flight 13 at engine ignition; Musk targets early next week

SpaceX

SpaceX called off the Starship Flight 13 launch attempt from Starbase on Thursday evening after four of the Super Heavy booster's 33 Raptor engines failed to ignite, triggering an automatic abort as the countdown reached zero. Elon Musk said two Raptors will be removed and replaced, with the most probable launch timing now early next week. Flight 13 is the second flight of Starship V3 and is intended to deploy 20 operational Starlink V3 satellites on a suborbital profile.

02

SpaceX stock closes below $135 IPO price after Starship abort

SpaceX

SpaceX shares closed at their IPO price on Thursday and fell more than 4% in after-hours trading following the aborted Starship Flight 13 attempt, before paring losses to around 3%. The move extended a five-day losing streak for the stock, which briefly touched valuations near Amazon and Microsoft shortly after the June 12 IPO. It was the first Starship launch attempt since SpaceX became a public company.

03

SDA puts Tranche 1 Transport Layer at 63 satellites with York launch

SpaceX YSS

A Falcon 9 launched 21 York Space Systems satellites from Vandenberg at 4:32 p.m. Eastern for the Space Development Agency's Tranche 1 Transport Layer, restarting deployment of the Pentagon's first operational low Earth orbit military data network after a months-long pause. SDA now has 63 of a planned 126 Tranche 1 Transport Layer spacecraft on orbit. Director GP Sandhoo said the agency has shifted to a readiness-based launch pace after thermal, ground-contact and propulsion issues on the first 42 satellites.

04

SWISSto12 closes $70M Series C to scale HummingSat and RF products

European space company SWISSto12 closed a $70 million Series C to scale production of its 3D-printed radio-frequency products and HummingSat small geostationary satellite line as demand rises for sovereign hardware in orbit. Founder and CEO Emile de Rijk cited customer missions ranging from direct-to-device connectivity and media broadcasting to intersatellite data relays and sovereign communications infrastructure. The company, founded in 2011, did not disclose investors in the round.

05

Lockheed Martin named prime on $10.5B USSOCOM sustainment contract

LMT

The Department of War named Lockheed Martin prime contractor on the Special Operations Forces Global Logistics Support Services II program, a $10.5 billion, 12-year competitive follow-on to work Lockheed has run for U.S. Special Operations Command since 2010. Under the contract, Lockheed will continue day-to-day sustainment and life-cycle management across aircraft and vehicle maintenance, IT and electronics support for the special operations community. USSOCOM described it as the command's largest services contract vehicle.

06

Voyager signs Geisinger as first clinical partner for VISTA microgravity institute

VOYG

Voyager Technologies signed Geisinger, one of the largest integrated U.S. health systems, as a partner in the Voyager Institute for Space, Technology and Advancement, or VISTA, its research park anchored at The Ohio State University. Under the memorandum of understanding, the two will jointly pursue up to $1 million in external funding for microgravity research spanning drug development, remote patient monitoring, cybersecurity health platforms and clinical trials, with reserved payload development support through Voyager's Starlab station and other commercial space infrastructure.

[ 03 / +28 / -18 ]

Market pulse

Archived snapshot from this edition. Prices and moves are not live.

Gainers+28
Decliners-18
Big mover FJET-6.3%
AssetSnapshotMoveTrend
ASTSAST SpaceMobile$57.02+3.6%
SATLSatellogic$3.685+3.2%
NOCNorthrop Grumman$532.87+2.7%
FJETStarfighters Space$3.73-6.3%
MDAMDA SpaceC$41.50-6.0%
SIDUSidus Space$1.81-4.7%
[ 04 / 6 tracked ]

Launch watch

Schedule and countdowns as recorded in the 2026-07-17 edition.

Vikram-I | Demo Flight

Skyroot Aerospace · Vikram-I · Satish Dhawan Space Centre First Launch Pad · Satish Dhawan Space Centre, India · LEO

Starship | Flight 13

SpaceX · Starship V3 · Orbital Launch Pad 2 · SpaceX Starbase, TX · Suborbital

Gravity-1

Orienspace Technology · Gravity-1 · Yellow Sea (launch location 5) · Haiyang Oriental Spaceport

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Filings

[ End of Issue 035 ]

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