Key facts
- SpaceX launched Starship on November 13, 2026, on a flight planned to last 22 hours.
- The first-stage booster malfunctioned and an automatic abort ended its return to the Texas pad.
- The booster ended up in the Gulf of Mexico rather than being caught at the pad.
- The launch was intended to capture both stages of the rocket, a maneuver SpaceX says would speed moon and Mars travel.
SpaceX launched Starship toward orbit on November 13, 2026, in what the company described as its boldest test yet: a flight planned to last 22 hours that aimed to capture the entire rocket, a maneuver meant to accelerate travel to the moon and Mars.
The first part of that double catch failed. The first-stage booster malfunctioned and, instead of returning to its Texas pad several minutes after lift-off, ended up in the Gulf of Mexico after an automatic abort, the company said.
The report did not say what happened to the upper stage or whether the rest of the flight continued as planned.