SpaceX Starship Flight 15 lifts off, but booster misses planned tower return

SpaceX's Starship megarocket lifted off on Friday afternoon from the company's Starbase site in south Texas. The flight, the 15th test of the vehicle, was meant to achieve something the aerospace company has not done before: catching both parts of its reusable rocket at the launch site.

The vehicle has two elements. The lower stage is a booster with 33 Raptor engines, which fired during takeoff, and the upper stage is the Starship spacecraft itself.

Booster lands in the sea

SpaceX had intended for both components to return to its tower. However, the booster, called Super Heavy, was aborted and splashed down in the sea. The reason for the diversion remains unknown.

Starship continues

The Starship spacecraft kept travelling through space. It is expected to orbit the Earth about 14 times over 22 hours, after which the company will attempt to catch it at its launchpad at Starbase.

SpaceX has carried out a series of test flights in recent years, as chief executive Elon Musk pursues his vision of taking humans into space. The source report was still developing, and further details about the flight were not yet available.