SpaceX’s bid for Starship double catch thwarted, as booster ends up in ocean

SpaceX attempted its boldest Starship test yet on Friday, aiming to capture both parts of the rocket to accelerate travel to the moon and Mars. The mission's goal was to perform a double catch by using mechanical arms on the launch tower to retrieve both the booster and the spacecraft. CityNews reported that if successful, this would mark the first time every piece of an orbital rocket is retrieved for recycling.

The mission failed to achieve its primary goal when the first-stage booster malfunctioned. According to the South China Morning Post, instead of returning to the Texas pad several minutes after lift-off, the booster ended up in the ocean.

The flight was intended to include the delivery of 26 advanced Starlink satellites. According to CityNews, the spacecraft was planned to complete 15 laps around the world at an altitude of approximately 170 miles before returning to the launch site on Saturday.

Brief written by urgent.news from South China Morning Post, CityNews, CBC News, Daily Times — 4 reports on this story. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.