A Super Heavy booster issue forced SpaceX to send it to an offshore splashdown, ruling out the planned capture of both rocket stages. (AFP pic)WASHINGTON: An unspecified problem forced Elon Musk's SpaceX on Friday to abort the recovery of the booster for the world's biggest and most powerful rocket, the Starship, but the company hoped it could yet pull off its first "catch" of the spaceship.
The 124-metre (407-foot) Starship roared into the sky from Starbase in southern Texas for its 15th test flight, but minutes later, the landmark nature of the mission went awry.
After lift-off and the mid-air separation of the two stages, an issue with the Super Heavy booster forced SpaceX to divert it to an "offshore splashdown" – scuttling what would have been a groundbreaking twin capture of both components of the rocket.
