SpaceX caught the Starship rocket’s Super Heavy booster for a second time, after it launched the upper stage into space on Thursday during a seventh test flight of the system. Soon after the successful catch, SpaceX representatives reported the ship was lost after the company lost contact about eight and half minutes into the flight.
Shortly after the booster catch, SpaceX representatives said on the company’s live stream that they had lost contact with the ship in space. The ship successfully separated from the booster and had started up its own rocket engines to ascend to orbit before the company lost telemetry.
SpaceX reps said, during the live stream, there appears to have been “an anomaly with that upper stage” during the end of the ascent burn. They later confirmed the ship was lost.
The company pulled off the first booster “catch” — which involves articulated arms on the launch tower snatching the rocket stage out of the air as it uses rockets to slow its descent — in October 2024. A second attempt to catch the booster in November was called off due to a communication problem.
The rocket SpaceX sent up on Thursday was upgraded in multiple ways compared to prior test flights. The company hoped to test out a number of different heat tiles on the ship section, which protect it from the forces of re-entry. The launch tower was also outfitted with radar sensors to more accurately locate the booster during the catch process.
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