SpaceX Starship booster explodes in Gulf of Mexico, double tower catch not completed
The booster exploded on descent into the Gulf of Mexico, but the ship reached orbit and deployed 26 Starlink satellites, the report says.
SpaceX's Starship booster exploded on Friday when it came down in the Gulf of Mexico, so the planned double catch of both stages was not completed, marca.com reports marca.com
marca.commarca.comOpen source ↗. The booster was meant to return to the launch tower at Starbase, Texas, but went to a sea area instead, where it exploded. The ship still entered orbit and the mission continued.
Double catch missed
The plan was to recover both stages with mechanical arms mounted on the launch tower at Starbase. Without the first stage, one of the main milestones planned for the flight could not be reached, while the rest of the operation went on. The company had not disclosed the cause of the failure.
The flight was also the first attempt to catch the upgraded booster, 72 m long, which is to be used for future missions to the Moon and Mars. The ship is another 52 m tall, giving a total stack height of 124 m. SpaceX had performed a catch three times before, but never a double catch.
Ship continues in orbit
Starship reached orbit and deployed 26 of the company's most advanced Starlink satellites marca.com
marca.commarca.comOpen source ↗. It is then to make 15 orbits of Earth at an altitude of about 275 km before returning to the launch pad. That maneuver was scheduled for Saturday and could extend the flight to as long as 22 hours.
For Musk, a double catch would be a major step toward a rapidly reusable launch system needed for his plans for lunar bases and crewed missions to Mars, according to the report. Commentator Kate Tice said during the broadcast: "Well, certainly not the news we were hoping to hear today."
