LOS ANGELES, Nov. 13 (Xinhua) -- SpaceX launched its giant Starship rocket on its 15th flight test on Friday, but the Super Heavy booster failed to return to the launch site for a planned catch by the launch tower's mechanical arms and instead splashed down in the Gulf of Mexico.
The rocket lifted off from SpaceX's Starbase facility in the U.S. state of Texas at about 4:48 p.m. Central Time (2248 GMT).
The mission marked the company's first planned attempt to catch both the Super Heavy booster and the Starship spacecraft using the launch tower's mechanical arms during a single flight.
After stage separation, the booster was diverted from its planned return to the launch site and made an offshore splashdown in the Gulf of Mexico.
The Starship spacecraft performed its orbital insertion burn and entered Earth's orbit. It later deployed 26 Starlink V3 satellites.
The mission team said the spacecraft had entered a long coast phase in orbit. Teams would monitor Starship's systems during the remaining hours of the flight.
"We do have a few early deorbit options available should we need them, but all systems are looking good right now," the team said.
The mission was designed for Starship to orbit Earth at an altitude of about 275 km and complete approximately 14 orbits during a flight lasting more than 22 hours.
Starship will only execute a return to the launch site if the flight control team has ensured that the vehicle systems critical for reentry maneuvers, the final landing burn, and the tower approach are healthy, SpaceX said.
Starship completed its 14th flight test on Sept. 28, reaching orbit for the first time and deploying 26 next-generation Starlink V3 satellites. The mission was cut short after one of the spacecraft's Raptor engines shut down prematurely during ascent. ■
