Elon Musk-led SpaceX decided to forgo its ambitious booster-catching attempt during a high-profile Starship test, prioritizing safety with President-elect Donald Trump watching the event in Brownsville, Texas.
What Happened: During the test on Tuesday, SpaceX had hoped to catch the booster of its Starship rocket using mechanical arms known as “chopsticks,” a method first successfully demonstrated last month.
However, just minutes into the flight, SpaceX engineers abandoned the attempt to catch the booster, opting for a “booster offshore divert” due to unspecified criteria not being met, reported Financial Times.
See Also: SpaceX’s European Rival Raises $160M For Reusable Space Capsule
“Unfortunately a no-go for the catch,” SpaceX engineer Kate Tice said during the live broadcast on X, formerly Twitter, “It was pretty epic on attempt one, but the safety of the teams and the public and the pad itself are paramount … So we are accepting compromises.”
The rocket itself successfully entered orbit, completing a loop around the Earth before the upper stage performed a controlled re-entry and crashed into the Indian Ocean.
Meanwhile, the booster landed in the Gulf of Mexico but exploded upon impact with the water.
Why It Matters: While the booster catch did not succeed, the test still marks a step forward for SpaceX's reusable rocket technology.
The company's goal is to significantly reduce the cost of space exploration by reusing boosters, a concept that could lower the cost of a Starship flight from $100 million to $50 million over time.
SpaceX remains focused on refining its technology as it prepares for future missions, including a planned Moon landing in 2026.
Earlier this month, the company's COO Gwynne Shotwell also expressed frustration with regulators hindering innovation at SpaceX. "Permissions are a different thing. Technology is easy. Physics is easy. People are hard; regulator people are the hardest."
Despite these obstacles, SpaceX's Starlink satellite network is expected to become profitable in 2024, with the company producing 50-60 satellites each week.
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Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.
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