SpaceX calls off nail-biting catch attempt as booster splashes down to Earth eigenlayer airdrop

SpaceX aborted a highly anticipated booster catch attempt Tuesday during the sixth test of Starship, the most powerful rocket ever built — just weeks after acing the stunning feat on the first try. But the mission went on to soar through new milestones during a roughly hour-long flight.

The nearly 400-foot-tall (121-meter) Starship system — which features the Starship spacecraft stacked atop the Super Heavy booster — lifted off around 5 p.m. ET from the company’s Starbase facility near Brownsville, Texas. President-elect Donald Trump was in attendance, joining SpaceX CEO Elon Musk for the event in another example of Musk’s increasing role in Trump’s orbit. After firing up its 33 powerful Raptor engines and propelling the Starship spacecraft toward space, the Super Heavy booster separated from the spacecraft, reversed course and steered itself back toward the launch site. SpaceX planned to attempt a precision landing of the booster into the arms, or “chopsticks,” of the launch and landing structure — nicknamed “Mechazilla” by Musk — at the company’s Starbase facility. The company first pulled off the unprecedented maneuver during the fifth Starship test flight last month.