The SpaceX Starship sailed through a sixth test flight, but unlike the previous historic test, this time the company wasn't able to catch the booster.
Space X has once again proved the mettle of its Starship rocket with its sixth test flight, which made a battered but ultimately successful landing in the Indian Ocean. Starship lifted off the pad at 5 p.m. ET from the Starbase facility in Texas, splashing down around an hour later after a suborbital flight. The plan had been to attempt to catch the booster, or first stage, of the rocket as had been done previously on the Starship ’s fifth test flight.
Related However, today SpaceX chose to call off the catch attempt and instead had the booster come in for a splashdown in the Gulf of Mexico. The company has not yet announced why this decision was made, but given the very new state of the technology, it errs on the side of caution when testing maneuvers at its landing site.
The booster did come in for a gentle splashdown on the ocean, but exploded shortly after touching the surface of the water. It is likely that it exploded due to the booster tipping over as it touched down on the water, making it structurally unsound.
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