SpaceX launches sixth Starship but aborts booster landing

SpaceX launched its Starship vehicle on its sixth test flight Nov. 19 but called off a planned landing of the Super Heavy booster back at the launch site.

The Starship/Super Heavy vehicle lifted off at 5 p.m. Eastern from SpaceX’s Starbase test site at Boca Chica, Texas. Liftoff took place at the opening of a 30-minute launch window with no problems reported during the countdown. Among the guests at the launch was President-elect Donald Trump, who has maintained close ties with SpaceX Chief Executive Elon Musk since the election two weeks ago.

The Super Heavy booster, known as Booster 13, separated from the Starship upper stage about two minutes and 45 seconds after liftoff. The booster started its return to the launch site but, a little more than a minute later, controllers announced “booster offshore divert,” meaning that the booster would not return to the launch pad.

SpaceX didn’t specify the condition with the booster that required it to divert. Instead, the booster made a powered “landing” in the Gulf of Mexico just offshore of the launch site, tipping over and exploding seconds later. It was at least a minor setback for SpaceX after the company was able to successfully “catch” the booster back at the launch tower on the previous launch Oct. 13.

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