Setback for SpaceX Starship rocket's double-catch test

SpaceX aborted its attempt to catch the bottom part of its huge Starship rocket during its latest test flight.

The aim was to catch it using the mechanical arms - nicknamed chopsticks - on the launch tower as it returned to Earth, but instead it was diverted to the ocean, bursting into flames as it came down.

The top part of the rocket is now continuing its journey to space, and SpaceX will decide whether it will try to catch this rocket stage at about 15:15 local time (21:15 GMT) on Saturday.

It is the company's first attempt to fully recover its rocket, paving the way for making Starship fully reusable so it can fly repeatedly and reduce costs.

The 124m-tall rocket successfully blasted off from the Starbase launchpad in Boca Chica, Texas at 16:45 local time (22:45 GMT) on Friday.

It was supposed to catch the bottom part of the rocket - the Super Heavy booster - six and a half minutes later when it returned to the launch tower, but instead it was diverted to the ocean.

During a stream of the launch, a SpaceX spokesperson said: "Safety is always the number one priority, and we're still testing out things that we haven't done before on these vehicles, and so we are prioritising making sure that we can perform each maneuver safely."

The top part of the rocket, called the Ship, is continuing its journey to space, where it is deploying 26 satellites. These will form part of the Starlink constellation that provides high-speed internet from space.

The Ship is due to complete 14 orbits around the Earth before returning to the launch tower 22.5 hours after taking off, where a second catch may be attempted.

SpaceX has managed to catch the Super Heavy Booster on three earlier test flights.

But the upper stage of the rocket, which only reached orbit for the first time in September, has never been grabbed by the chopsticks. Instead, it has splashed down in the ocean.

Before the flight, SpaceX said it would only decide to try to catch the Ship after carefully assessing the vehicle while it is in space.

If any problems are detected, there are various points during the flight when the rocket stage can be brought down in the ocean.

Building a fully reusable rocket is a long-held ambition for SpaceX.

In 2015, it became the first company to vertically land part of a rocket with its Falcon 9 booster.

Falcon 9 rockets now fly more than 100 times a year, and the ability to reuse the bottom part of the rocket has dramatically cut the costs of launch.

But landing an entire Starship rocket could take this to the next level, says Prof Malcolm Macdonald, president of Royal Aeronautical Society.

"Full reusability has the potential to fundamentally change the economics of accessing space," he said.

"One successful flight will not prove that model, but it could mark an important transition: from demonstrating that Starship can fly, to demonstrating how Starship could operate."

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Watch: From launch to fiery splashdown, SpaceX's Starship completes orbit test

After SpaceX went public earlier this year, its shareholders will be carefully monitoring this flight, as will the US Space Agency.

The progress of Starship has direct implications for Nasa's attempt to land humans on the Moon in 2028 - a highly ambitious timeline.

SpaceX has been given a Nasa contract to configure the Ship into a lander that will eventually take astronauts down to the lunar surface.

But it is not the only company working with the US Space Agency. Blue Origin, owned by rival tech billionaire Jeff Bezos, also has a contract to use its New Glenn rocket and lander for the Moon touch down.

Both companies will also play a key role in Artemis III, which is currently planned for summer 2027- another challenging schedule.

This mission will see four astronauts in Nasa's Orion spacecraft attempt to dock with both SpaceX and Blue Origin's landers.

Starship will need to make a lot of progress in the coming months to meet these commitments - the pace of the rocket's development has been far slower than SpaceX had intended.

But Blue Origin also has much work to do. The company suffered a major setback earlier this year when its rocket exploded, totally destroying its launchpad in Florida.

Blue Origin had said they would be back in action by the end of this year, but a return to flight has now been delayed to early in 2027.

Nasa is under pressure to meet its timelines. Its administrator Jared Isaacman has said America is in a race with China to get to the Moon. China plans to land its Taikonauts on the lunar surface by 2030.