Starship booster falls into sea and ignites during SpaceX test
Lower Super Heavy booster plunged into the ocean and burned after launch‑tower arms failed to catch it; upper stage reached orbit to deploy Starlink.
SpaceX suffered a setback last night during another test flight of its giant Starship vehicle when the lower stage — the Super Heavy booster — plunged into the sea and caught fire after the launch‑tower mechanical arms failed to secure it.
The vehicle belongs to the company of technology billionaire Elon Musk. SpaceX has not yet released a statement explaining what caused the unsuccessful recovery attempt for the booster.
Flight profile and what went according to plan
The upper stage separated from the booster and successfully reached Earth orbit, where it is scheduled to deploy Starlink internet satellites. That upper stage is expected to complete about 14 orbits in roughly 24 hours before attempting a return to the launch site, where SpaceX plans to catch it with the tower's mechanical arms — a maneuver that has not been demonstrated to date.
On a prior test flight in September, Starship reached orbit for the first time and then performed a controlled descent into the Pacific Ocean. At about 120 metres tall, Starship is the largest rocket system ever built, and both stages have been designed for reuse.
NASA plans to use Starship to send astronauts to the Moon, and SpaceX's longer‑term ambitions include missions to Mars.
SpaceX will likely investigate the cause of the booster recovery failure; the company has not provided further technical details so far.
Photo: press material from the event
