SpaceX launched Starship on its 15th test flight on Friday, but called off its first attempt to catch both stages of the rocket. The Super Heavy booster aborted its return to the launch tower and came down in the Gulf of Mexico instead.
The upper stage, Ship 42, reached orbit and released 26 Starlink satellites, Spaceflight Now reported . It is due to fly back to Starbase in Texas on Saturday, where SpaceX will try to catch it with the tower’s mechanical arms for the first time.
The rocket lifted off from Starbase at 4:47pm local time on Friday. The booster was meant to return to the pad about six minutes later.
Instead, the booster cancelled the catch on its own after detecting a guidance and navigation problem, SpaceX commentator Dan Huot said on the company’s webcast. It switched to a backup landing offshore, and exploded just before hitting the water, according to Spaceflight Now.
SpaceX has caught a Super Heavy booster three times before. However, it has never caught the newer, larger version 3 booster, or the upper stage.
It was the second time Starship has reached orbit. On its first orbital flight in September, an engine failure forced SpaceX to bring the ship down early.
This time, the ship is due to spend about 22 hours in orbit and circle the Earth about 14 times, UPI reported . SpaceX can still end the flight early and send it into the ocean if problems arise.
Catching the upper stage would be a key step towards a fully reusable rocket, which SpaceX says it needs to cut launch costs and fly to the Moon and Mars.
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