# Psyche swings past Mars successfully & Starship Flight 13 aborts late - Space News (Jul 18, 2026)

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-automated-daily-space-news-edition-7305666/psyche-swings-past-mars-successfully-starship-flight-13-aborts-late-space-news-jul-18-2026
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-automated-daily-space-news-edition-7305666/psyche-swings-past-mars-successfully-starship-flight-13-aborts-late-space-news-jul-18-2026.md
Podcast: [The Automated Daily - Space News Edition](https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-automated-daily-space-news-edition-7305666)
Published: 2026-07-18T16:03:49+00:00
Episode link: https://theautomateddaily.com/episodes/2026-07-18-psyche-swings-past-mars-successfully-starship-flight-13-aborts-late
Audio file: https://dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/cdn.theautomateddaily.com/audio/space/2026-07-18/en/episode.mp3
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JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/the-automated-daily-space-news-edition-7305666/episodes/psyche-swings-past-mars-successfully-starship-flight-13-aborts-late-space-news-jul-18-2026
Duration seconds: 221

## Resource

Please support this podcast by checking out our sponsors: - SurveyMonkey, Using AI to surface insights faster and reduce manual analysis time - https://get.surveymonkey.com/tad - Consensus: AI for Research. Get a free month - https://get.consensus.app/automated_daily - Invest Like the Pros with StockMVP - https://www.stock-mvp.com/?via=ron Support The Automated Daily directly: Buy me a coffee: https://buymeacoffee.com/theautomateddaily Today's topics: Psyche swings past Mars successfully - NASA's Psyche mission completed a Mars gravity assist on July 17, 2026 and released a striking time-lapse of the encounter. The flyby is a major navigation milestone on the spacecraft's journey to the metal-rich asteroid Psyche. Starship Flight 13 aborts late - SpaceX's Starship Flight 13 suffered a last-second automated abort after multiple Super Heavy engines failed to ignite properly. The delay pushes back testing for Starlink Version 3 deployment and underscores the challenges of reusable heavy-lift development. Comet Tempel 2 lights skies - Comet 10P/Tempel 2 is well placed for observers in mid-July 2026, with astronomy guides calling it an accessible binocular target. NASA's Astronomy Picture of the Day also spotlighted the comet's dust trail, boosting public interest in current skywatching. Skyroot Vikram-1 reaches orbit - India's Skyroot Aerospace announced that its Vikram-1 rocket reached orbit on its maiden mission, Aagaman. The success marks a major milestone for India's private launch industry and adds a new competitor to the global small-launch market. APOD highlights sky and light - NASA's APOD entries for July 17 and 18 connected comet science with atmospheric beauty, featuring Tempel 2's dust trail and a 'Shadow and Rainbow' scene. Together, they show how space storyt…

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