Space X cancels its “60-star launch” mission. What’s the situation?

SpaceX canceled a rocket launch on Sunday after computers detected an engine power problem just minutes before an attempt to launch its sixth batch of StarLink internet broadband satellites.

The Falcon 9 rocket is scheduled to launch from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, carrying another 60 Starlink satellites into Earth orbit.

During the live broadcast of the launch, SpaceX engineers were heard referring to a "high engine power abort." The webcast announcer said the abort was indeed related to the Merlin engines. SpaceX later provided more details, including that the sequence was automatically aborted by its systems.

The announcer noted that the "vehicle appears to be in good condition," which SpaceX later confirmed, which should bode well for another launch attempt. SpaceX's backup plan is set for Monday, but the exact time of the attempt is still to be determined, probably because SpaceX needs to investigate and understand the exact cause of the engine power problem and when the attempt would be most effective.

It is reported that the Falcon 9 is carrying the sixth batch of Starlink satellites, a total of 60. If the rocket launch is successful, the number of Starlink satellite launches will reach six batches, a total of 360 satellites, which will be able to provide Internet services to parts of the United States and Canada.

Starlink is a "satellite constellation" project that SpaceX is developing, dedicated to forming a low-cost, high-coverage space-based global communications system. SpaceX plans to launch 42,000 satellites into LEO low-Earth orbit to achieve global networking.

Space X's rockets have failed to launch before, but they are often able to launch successfully after engineers investigate and eliminate the problems. Space X said: "Once the launch date is confirmed, the next launch time will be announced."

In the past few months, SpaceX has deployed new satellites at a very fast pace, and has launched 300 satellites so far. SpaceX plans to eventually use thousands of micro-satellites to provide cheap, high-speed broadband network services around the world.