GoKawiilSpaceX Starship reaches orbit but booster catch attempt aborted, lands in Gulf
SpaceX's 15th Starship test flight reached orbit on Friday, deploying 26 Starlink satellites from the upper stage, but controllers aborted the Super Heavy booster's return to the launch tower after it malfunctioned, and it exploded after splashdown in the Gulf of Mexico. The Starship upper stage is set to orbit Earth 15 times before attempting its own first-ever tower catch on Saturday. SpaceX had previously caught the booster three times, making this miss unexpected, and no cause has yet been given.
GoKawiil's interpretation of the reporting above, not reported fact.
A successful dual-stage tower catch would be unprecedented and central to SpaceX founder Elon Musk's goal of rapid, reusable launches needed for lunar and Mars missions, so the aborted booster catch is a setback for that timeline rather than the program itself. The lack of an official explanation suggests engineers still need to diagnose the failure before the next upgraded booster flies, which could affect future launch schedules.
- Starship's 15th test flight reached orbit and deployed 26 Starlink satellites successfully.
- The upgraded Super Heavy booster malfunctioned and was aborted before exploding in the Gulf of Mexico.
- Saturday's planned first-ever Starship upper-stage tower catch would still make history if achieved.
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Published there as: “SpaceX Falls Short of Historic Double Starship Catch”
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