SpaceX claims another Starship success, but fumbles the catch

SpaceX has notched up another test flight of its Starship behemoth, but chose not to try catching the Super Heavy Booster this time.

The rocket launched from SpaceX's Boca Chica facility in Texas at 2200 UTC on November 19 without incident. Following stage separation, the Super Heavy booster executed its typical flip maneuver and seemed to head back to the launch site for another catch by the chopsticks on the launch tower.

However, SpaceX's engineers instead redirected the booster to a splashdown in the Gulf of Mexico. The booster performed a landing burn above the water before toppling over in a fireball.

SpaceX did not immediately disclose the reason for the ocean landing, but later posted: "Automated health checks of critical hardware on the launch and catch tower triggered an abort of the catch attempt."

Certainly, the tower appeared ...