SpaceX launches Starship rocket, fails to recover booster
SpaceX successfully launched its latest Starship spacecraft into orbit but failed to recover the booster rocket, which exploded over the Gulf of Mexico.
The company, owned by tech billionaire Elon Musk, had planned to recover both the booster and the upper stage as part of developing a fully reusable rocket system. Instead, the booster exploded above the Gulf of Mexico during its attempted return to the launch site.
Mission details
SpaceX's Starship, the world's largest and most powerful rocket system at 124 meters tall, successfully lifted off from the SpaceX South Texas Starbase site. The uncrewed mission delivered 26 satellites for SpaceX's Starlink network into orbit.
Not sure right now why we weren't able to bring it back.
Next steps
The upper stage remains in orbit and is scheduled to return to Earth on Saturday. It will be caught by mechanical arms upon landing at the launch pad, marking the first time the spacecraft would be caught after returning to Earth.
Developing a fully reusable rocket system is crucial to SpaceX's goal of reducing spaceflight costs. While the booster was lost, previous launches had successfully recovered this component. The upper stages of all 14 previous Starship missions ended up in the ocean.
Musk expects SpaceX to conduct Starship launches once a week by early 2027. The program has received billions in NASA funding and aims to put astronauts on the Moon by 2028, though technical challenges could delay this timeline.
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