SpaceX conducted its sixth test flight of the Starship rocket on Wednesday, showcasing some progress while also facing setbacks.
The Super Heavy booster, instead of being caught by the launch tower’s “chopstick” arms as planned, splashed down in the Gulf of Mexico. The “chopstick” arms, designed to catch the first stage, were successfully demonstrated in a previous test but couldn’t meet the technical criteria this time.
Starship booster blasts: What went wrong?
SpaceX scrapped plans to attempt to catch the booster in midair with giant mechanical arms, one of the most anticipated moments of its mission. President-elect Donald Trump and Elon Musk were also present to witness the spectacle firsthand. Company representatives cited unmet technical criteria.
“It was pretty epic on attempt one, but the safety of the teams and the public and the pad itself are paramount,” SpaceX engineer Kate Tice said on a live broadcast. “So we are accepting compromises.”
A live stream separate from SpaceX’s and hosted by space blogger Everyday Astronaut showed the Super Heavy booster exploding into a massive fireball on the Gulf horizon after splashing down.
To meet that promise of delivering a fully reusable rocket, SpaceX must refine its technique for recovering all of the pieces of Starship after launch.
Starship, a 122-metre-tall stainless steel rocket, is the centerpiece of Elon Musk’s ambitious plans for Mars colonisation. With twice the thrust of NASA’s Saturn V, Starship is the most powerful rocket ever built. Musk aims for uncrewed Mars missions as early as 2026, aligning with the next “Mars transfer window” when the journey is shortest.
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NASA is also relying on Starship to land astronauts on the Moon under its Artemis program later this decade.
Starship also carried its first payload—a stuffed banana
During the test, the upper stage of Starship achieved partial orbit, re-entered Earth’s atmosphere, and splashed down in the Indian Ocean near Australia.
SpaceX employees cheered as the spacecraft executed a near-vertical splashdown, completing key objectives like reigniting Raptor engines in space and testing improved heat shields.
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The flight also carried Starship’s first payload—a stuffed banana—and marked the final mission for the current generation of prototypes.
Despite challenges, Musk has announced plans for Starship V3, which he claims will be three times more powerful and ready for testing within a year, signaling continuous progress toward SpaceX’s space exploration goals.
