SpaceX’s Friday Starship mission reached orbit, but the booster meant to be caught returned to the wrong location and ended up in the Gulf of Mexico.
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SpaceX’s Starship reached orbit during its boldest test yet, but the company’s attempt to recover the entire rocket in a “double catch” fell short after the booster was diverted offshore and ended up in the Gulf of Mexico, where it exploded Friday.
Instead of returning to the Starbase launch pad in Texas, the first-stage booster was routed to a point offshore. SpaceX said the spacecraft still continued its flight, with plans to steer it toward the pad Saturday, barring further trouble.
The mission was designed to mark the first time Starship tried to return to the launch tower from orbit for mechanical arms to pick up the rocket stages midair. It represented the upgraded booster version, which is 236 feet (72 metres) tall, paired with a spacecraft 171 feet (52 metres) tall—together making a 407-foot (124-metre) rocket.
Shortly after reaching orbit, Starship dropped off 26 Starlink satellites. The plan was for Starship to complete 15 laps around the world at an altitude of about 170 miles (275 kilometres) before beginning its return to the launch site for Saturday’s attempt.
SpaceX’s earlier efforts at Starbase had included three booster grabs, and Friday’s loss of the booster meant the company missed out on the full double-catch goal. “Well, that certainly isn’t the news that we had hoped to hear for today,” said SpaceX launch commentator Kate Tice, adding it was in line with rigorous safety checks intended to protect the pad.
No explanation was provided for what went wrong. The launch was also the first attempt to catch the upgraded Starship configuration, after earlier Starship flights that left the spacecraft portion in the ocean at flight’s end or after self-destruct actions.
In related comments, SpaceX vice-president of launch Kiko Dontchev said at a NASA tech summit last week that fast and consistent launch rates are needed to build moon bases and send people to Mars, and he previously described the long-term objective of catching both stages of Starship. NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman also said via X after Starship reached orbit that it would support on-orbit Starlink capability on Artemis III.
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