SpaceX Starship splashes down after 6th launch; booster catch called off

SpaceX successfully completed the sixth test launch of its Starship vehicle Tuesday, but skipped the anticipated "booster catch" maneuver before the rocket and spacecraft splashed down.

The Starship began its projected trajectory over the Gulf of Mexico at 5 p.m. ET following a similar path as previous flights. The vehicle's 232-foot "Super Heavy" rocket splashed down off the coast of Texas seven minutes after launch.

The spacecraft also includes the 165-foot Starship spacecraft itself, which flew for over an hour before splashing down in the Indian Ocean.

As for the booster, SpaceX officials hoped to replicate what they did for the first time in the previous test, steering it back autonomously to the landing pad before catching it with two giant mechanical arms. However, during the flight, officials decided to forgo the booster catch, which was not guaranteed, due to it not meeting the required safety criteria.

The company also aimed to reignite its Raptor engine in space to attempt an orbital burn – a needed maneuver to perform deorbit burn during future orbital missions. Tuesday's launch also included plans to fly the ship at a "higher angle of attack" to test what it can handle on future landings.

SpaceX envisions the powerful spacecraft being a fully reusable transportation system that can carry both humans and cargo to Earth's orbit, the moon and even Mars.

6th SpaceX launch of Starship: What happened on previous flight tests?

Starship splashed in Indian Ocean at 6:05 p.m. ET.

The Starship reentry went according to plan, splashing down in the Indian Ocean at Wednesday at 6:05 p.m. ET.

The Starship is due to play a vital role in NASA's lunar ambitions amid a heated international space race to get back to the moon.

As part of the U.S. space agency's ambitious Artemis campaign, its first lunar program since the Apollo era of the 1970s, NASA is paying SpaceX to develop a spacecraft capable of safely transporting astronauts from orbit to the moon's surface.

Trump attends Starship launch with Musk

President-elect Donald Trump joined Musk to witness the launch, the latest public appearance the two have made after attending Saturday's UFC 309 together at Madison Square Garden.

Trump's attendance at the test flight came as the Republican continues to signal that the tech billionaire will have a large part to play in his upcoming administration.

Trump recently selected Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, himself a billionaire and former 2024 presidential candidate, to lead the brand-new non-governmental Department of Government Efficiency. In the leadup to the election, Musk began regularly appearing at Trump's rallies and emerged as a major donor to his reelection ambitions.

What is SpaceX's Starship?

SpaceX has spent years developing and testing the Starship, which is classified as a super heavy-lift launch vehicle and is lauded as the biggest and most powerful rocket ever built.

The entire craft features two components: The 165-foot Starship spacecraft itself, and the 232-foot "Super Heavy" rocket it's perched atop. SpaceX envisions the powerful spacecraft being a fully reusable transportation system that can carry both humans and cargo to Earth's orbit, the moon and even Mars.

What happened in Starship's previous test flights?

Since April 2023, Starship has undergone five test flights.

While the rocket's first three tests ended in explosions, officials say it has improved in every demonstration they've conducted with the vehicle. The explosions came to an end in its fourth and fifth test flights when Starship managed to land successfully in the Indian Ocean in both June and October.

One of the biggest leaps in progress also came in the last flight test when SpaceX mission controllers not only returned the rocket booster to the launch site, but snatched it out of the air with two giant mechanical arms, nicknamed "chopsticks."

This story was updated to add new information and fix an inaccuracy.

Eric Lagatta covers breaking and trending news for USA TODAY. Reach him at [email protected]

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: SpaceX Starship launches from Starbase; booster catch called off