SpaceX aborted a crucial booster catch attempt on Tuesday during the sixth test of Starship, the world’s most powerful rocket, despite achieving this feat weeks earlier. The mission, however, achieved several new objectives during its hour-long journey.
The Starship system, standing at nearly 400 feet (121 metres), launched at approximately 5 pm ET from SpaceX’s Starbase facility near Brownsville, Texas. US President-elect Donald Trump attended alongside SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, highlighting Musk’s growing influence in Trump’s circle.
What was the plan?
Following the ignition of its 33 Raptor engines and spacecraft separation, the Super Heavy booster began its return journey. SpaceX intended to land the booster precisely in the “chopsticks” of the launch structure, nicknamed “Mechazilla” by Musk. This manoeuvre had succeeded during the previous month’s test.
Why did they fail this time?
However, SpaceX reported that “automated health checks of critical hardware on the launch and catch tower triggered an abort of the catch attempt.” Subsequently, the booster executed a planned contingency manoeuvre, landing softly in the Gulf of Mexico.
The Starship spacecraft continued its mission, activating its six engines before entering a coasting phase. It later reactivated an engine before preparing for atmospheric re-entry and landing.
What was achieved instead?
This test marked the first successful ignition of a Raptor engine in space for Starship, a vehicle designed for lunar and Martian missions.
Former Nasa astronaut Garret Reisman, now a SpaceX adviser, explained to CNN, “They’re finicky little beasts — (the Starship rocket engines) — and it’s not so easy to light them up and shut them down and light them up again.”
The spacecraft then proceeded to test its capabilities before splashing down in the Indian Ocean.
SpaceX engineer Jessie Anderson described the descent strategy, “We’re going to fly the ship at an aggressive angle of attack once it’s moving slower than the speed of sound. This means we’ll be flying nose down instead of our usual belly flop orientation during final descent. This will — no doubt — stress the limits of the flaps’ ability to maintain control, but it will be a chance to get real flight data on what our limits actually are.”
The spacecraft landed safely in the Indian Ocean, demonstrating greater capabilities than anticipated despite the challenging trajectory.
This unmanned test represented the quickest turnaround in SpaceX’s Starship programme, which is vital for Nasa’s Artemis initiative. Nasa plans to utilise the Starship spacecraft as a lunar lander by 2026.
Nasa Administrator Bill Nelson acknowledged Starship’s importance, “Congrats to @SpaceX on Starship’s sixth test flight. Exciting to see the Raptor engine restart in space — major progress towards orbital flight. Starship’s success is #Artemis’ success. Together, we will return humanity to the Moon & set our sights on Mars.”