SpaceX’s Starship set for return to Earth after booster catch aborted

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SpaceX’s Starship is set to return to Earth after a booster catch aborted during its latest test flight from Texas. Read more at straitstimes.com.

The booster explodes during an aborted return to the SpaceX launch complex on Nov 13.

STARBASE, TEXAS - SpaceX’s Starship spacecraft was “healthy” as it orbited the Earth and on track to return on Nov 14 to its Texas launch site, where Elon Musk’s company was planning to “catch” the vehicle for the first time.

It was the 15th test flight of the world’s biggest and most powerful rocket system, originally meant to feature a groundbreaking twin capture of both the Super Heavy booster and the Starship.

Successful recoveries of both stages would have marked a milestone in the space industry’s decades-long pursuit of fully reusable rocket systems that can drastically reduce mission costs and make frequent launches possible.

But that achievement slipped out of reach minutes after the 124m rocket blasted off on the afternoon of Nov 13 from its launch pad at Starbase.

After the midair separation of the two stages, the Super Heavy booster was initially set for capture at Launch Pad 2, SpaceX spokesman Dan Huot said.

But near the end of its descent, “the booster aborted itself for a GNC (guidance, navigation and control) issue that it detected”, he said.

It diverted instead to the Gulf of Mexico just off the launch site, where it automatically self-destructed before hitting the water.

Meanwhile, the Starship spacecraft that gives the rocket system its name was orbiting the Earth, which it was expected to do 14 times before returning on Nov 14.

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