SpaceX Starship Launches on Flight Test

SpaceX's Starship Flight 15 successfully achieved separation and reached spaceflight conditions despite scrubbing the planned tower catch of the Super Heavy booster, which ultimately performed an offshore splashdown in the Gulf of Mexico. Following the vehicle's lift-off with nominal engine performance and a hot staging event, the upper stage operated six Raptor engines for four and a half minutes before the mission's financial impact saw shares dip due to the incomplete booster recovery. While the booster's landing was marked by a sonic boom and on-site reports of an explosion, SpaceX plans to attempt catching the spacecraft stage via the tower chopsticks system approximately 23 hours post-launch as part of its ongoing development for lunar and Mars missions.