STARBASE, TEXAS — November 13, 2026
SpaceX suffered a major setback Friday when its massive Super Heavy rocket booster failed to return to its launch tower during a Starship test flight, instead plunging into the Gulf of Mexico.
The rocket successfully lifted off from SpaceX’s Starbase facility in Texas, but an automatic abort cancelled the planned attempt to catch the booster using the launch tower’s giant mechanical arms.
Despite the setback, the Starship spacecraft successfully reached orbit, continuing its mission to deploy 26 Starlink satellites.
The mission was intended to demonstrate SpaceX’s ability to recover both rocket stages, a crucial step toward developing fully reusable spacecraft for future missions to the Moon and Mars.
The spacecraft is scheduled to attempt its own historic tower catch on Saturday, November 14.
The booster malfunction and water impact have been confirmed, but reports of a fiery explosion have not yet been independently verified.