SpaceX sent its Starship on a flight that was meant to feature a first-ever retrieval of both rocket stages, but a launch-pad catch of the first-stage booster had to be canceled due to safety concerns.
Instead, the Super Heavy booster was diverted during its descent to make an offshore splashdown. Observers at SpaceX’s Starbase on the South Texas coast could hear the sonic boom and see the fiery plunge that took place minutes after launch at 4:47 p.m. CT (2:47 PT) today. “Wow, you could feel the rumble of that splashdown there,” launch commentator Jessie Anderson said.
This 15th flight test still has a chance to make history: The mission plan calls for the Starship second stage to spend as much as 22 hours in orbit — ending with a return to the pad for a midair capture by the launch tower’s giant extendable arms. SpaceX has caught Starship’s booster during three previous test flights, but this would be a first for a second stage.
SpaceX didn’t immediately provide details about its decision to abort the booster catch. If any further safety concerns arise, SpaceX’s mission team has the option of ending the flight early and sending the second stage — known as Ship 42 — down to a controlled ocean splashdown.
After reaching orbit, Ship 42 deployed 26 satellites for SpaceX’s Starlink broadband internet network. Three of the satellites were equipped with a suite of cameras to inspect Ship’s heatshield after deployment.
Starship ranks as the world’s biggest and most powerful rocket, standing 407 feet (124 meters) tall and providing 17 million pounds of thrust at liftoff. The rocket is designed to deploy dozens of Starlink V3 satellites at a time — and eventually send thousands of explorers and settlers to Mars.
NASA is counting on SpaceX to provide a Starship-based system for landing astronauts on the moon by as early as 2028. As a preparatory step, NASA is planning to test Starship as well as Blue Origin’s Blue Moon landing system in low Earth orbit next year. NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman referred to that test mission, known as Artemis 3, in a post to X that took note of the video sent down from orbit via the Starlink network.
“Congratulations to the SpaceX team on another spectacular launch,” Isaacman wrote. “Very much appreciate how you bring the world along in high resolution. We are looking forward to some of that on-orbit Starlink capability on Artemis III.”
