SpaceX has notched up another test flight of its Starship behemoth, but chose not to try catching the Super Heavy Booster this time.
The rocket launched from SpaceX's Boca Chica facility in Texas at 2200 UTC on November 19 without incident. Following stage separation, the Super Heavy booster executed its typical flip maneuver and seemed to head back to the launch site for another catch by the chopsticks on the launch tower.
However, SpaceX's engineers instead redirected the booster to a splashdown in the Gulf of Mexico. The booster performed a landing burn above the water before toppling over in a fireball.
SpaceX did not immediately disclose the reason for the ocean landing, but later posted: "Automated health checks of critical hardware on the launch and catch tower triggered an abort of the catch attempt."
Certainly, the tower appeared to sustain significant damage during launch, and the lightning tower on top had developed a noticeable lean after Starship's departure. There is no indication, however, that this was connected to the decision to execute the pre-planned divert maneuver to a soft splashdown in the Gulf of Mexico.
While catching the booster was a nice-to-have, the reignition of a Raptor engine by the Ship in space was a critical milestone. Demonstrating reignition enables future missions to reach orbit and carry out controlled re-entries.
During the Ship's time in space, SpaceX also switched to a camera inside the cavernous vehicle, showing a banana suspended within for scale.
The re-entry and soft splashdown of the Ship also went well, although visible crumpling of the vehicle's steel skin occurred during descent, and the front of one flap glowed orange, indicating that there was some form of overheating or burn-through. Neither issue prevented a successful splashdown, although the banana is unlikely to have survived.
SpaceX boss Elon Musk said that the company planned one further ocean landing of the Ship before attempting to catch the vehicle with the tower should all go well.
During the launch broadcast, a SpaceX commentator gave details on future plans for the monster rocket - an uncrewed Mars mission in 2026 and a propellant transfer demonstration between two Starships in 2025. The latter is critical for NASA's Artemis program since SpaceX is expected to supply the lander for the Artemis III crewed Moon landing mission.
To do all that, however, SpaceX must demonstrate that Starship can achieve high launch frequency and reusability. This flight is another step toward that goal. ®