SpaceX Abandons Attempt to Catch Starship Rocket Booster in New Test Flight

November 20, 2024 TruthUSA

The company was hoping to replicate the success of last month’s test flight, which included a historic launchpad catch of the rocket’s ‘Super Heavy’ booster.

SpaceX’s most recent Starship rocket launch took place successfully from Boca Chica, Texas, on Nov. 19. However, the aerospace company was not able to bring back the craft’s booster to the launchpad, a feat they accomplished for the first time in October.

The launch marked Starship’s sixth test flight, departing from SpaceX’s Texas launch facilities at 5 p.m. ET. Elon Musk, the CEO of SpaceX, outlined the goals for Starship Flight 6 in a post on X.

The company’s objectives included reigniting the rocket’s Raptor engines in a vacuum, landing the ship during daylight hours, achieving higher peak heating and steeper reentry of the rocket, and executing a faster and more challenging booster catch by the launchpad’s mechanical arms.

During Starship’s fifth test flight on Oct. 13, the large launchpad’s mechanical arms successfully captured the “Super Heavy” booster as it descended back to the ground. SpaceX aimed to repeat this feat on Tuesday, but with a quicker descent to the launchpad.

Shortly after Starship’s Super Heavy booster separated from the rocket at an altitude of approximately 67 km, or nearly 220,000 feet, a SpaceX representative mentioned that the conditions were not favorable for a return to the launchpad or a tower catch.

“As we mentioned previously, both the tower and the vehicle, along with the operators on console, have been actively evaluating the commit criteria for that return to the launch tower. Unfortunately, we did not meet those commit criteria, so we are unable to proceed with the tower catch,” she explained.

Development testing is inherently unpredictable, as evidenced by Super Heavy landing in the Gulf of Mexico today, but this is precisely why we conduct tests.

Starship’s booster is equipped with 33 Raptor engines and stands at 233 feet tall. The liftoff thrust for Flight 6 is approximately 7,500 tons, with a total weight of around 5,000 tons, as stated by Musk in a post on X. For comparison, a fully loaded Boeing 747-400 Jumbo Jet weighs roughly 455 tons.

President-elect Donald Trump, who recently appointed Musk to co-lead the new Department of Government Efficiency, traveled to Texas on Tuesday to witness the launch firsthand.

“I’m on my way to the Great State of Texas to witness the launch of the largest object ever to be elevated, not only to Space but simply by lifting off the ground,” Trump wrote in a post on X.