Elon Musk's company said it will have to figure out what went wrong on Thursday before making another attempt to send Starship on a space-skimming journey halfway around the world.
It was supposed to be the 13th flight for Starship, which at 124m tall with 33 main engines is the world's biggest and most powerful rocket.
SpaceX's launch webcast showed the start of engine ignition three seconds before the planned liftoff, viewed from a drone high above the pad.
Although the company did not elaborate, on-screen data showed four engines not firing, with the remaining 29 engines immediately shutting down and keeping the rocket anchored to the pad. It was the first time a full-scale Starship experienced a last-second abort like this.
The launch team immediately began draining the fuel from the rocket.
"Next launch attempt hopefully in a few days," Musk announced via X.
Everything was going SpaceX's way, even the weather, until the partial engine ignition. In the end, the rocket's automatic launch system worked as planned by halting everything. Too few operating engines could have doomed the launch. Some earlier Starship flights ended in explosive fireballs.
Elon Musk's company had newest, most advanced Starlinks aboard
Twenty of SpaceX's newest and most advanced Starlinks were on board Starship for release during the planned hour-long flight. The internet satellites were going to try communicating with Starlinks already in orbit while taking photos of Starship's heat shield.
Neither the first-stage booster nor spacecraft were meant to be recovered, with both ending up in the sea.
The rocket's automatic launch system worked as planned by halting everything. Too few operating engines could have resulted in a failed launch. Some earlier Starship flights, for example, ended in explosive fireballs.
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