The key moment came 38 minutes after Starship roared off the launch pad

A brief but crucial demo

Until now, SpaceX has intentionally launched Starships to speeds just shy of the blistering velocities needed to maintain orbit. SpaceX wanted to test the Raptor’s ability to reignite in space on the third Starship test flight in March, but the ship lost the ability to control its rolling motion, and the vehicle canceled the engine firing.

Before going for a full orbital flight, officials wanted to confirm Starship can steer itself back into the atmosphere for reentry, ensuring it won’t present any risk to the public with an unguided descent over a populated area. SpaceX can now check this off its to-do list.

This unlocks a new phase of Starship development. SpaceX has proven the rocket is capable of reaching space with a fair measure of reliability. 

SpaceX’s successes with the Starship launch sequence this year allowed engineers to begin experimenting with the vehicle’s heat shield, made up of thousands of ceramic tiles to protect the ship from temperatures as high as 2,600° Fahrenheit (1,430° Celsius). During the previous Starship flight last month, the Super Heavy booster returned to the launch site for a daring catch by the launch tower’s two mechanical arms.

Engineers aimed to repeat the feat Tuesday, but a technical issue caused the rocket to divert from its descent back to Starbase. Instead, the Super Heavy booster came down over the Gulf just off the coast, then finished off the descent with a seemingly perfect landing burn with a subset of its Raptor engines. As expected, the booster—itself 233 feet (71 meters) tall—toppled and broke apart in a dramatic fireball visible to onshore spectators.

In an update posted to its website after the launch, SpaceX said automated health checks of hardware on the launch and catch tower triggered the aborted catch attempt. As a safety measure, SpaceX must send a manual command for the booster to come back to land in order to prevent an errant rocket or a launch pad malfunction from endangering people or property.

There will be plenty more opportunities for more booster catches in the coming months as SpaceX ramps up its launch cadence at Starbase.

These next test flights will use an improved version of Starship designated Block 2, or V2. Starship Block 2 comes with larger propellant tanks, redesigned forward flaps, and a better heat shield, according to SpaceX.

The new-generation Starship will hold more than 11 million pounds of fuel and oxidizer, about a million pounds more than the capacity of Starship Block 1. The booster and ship will produce more thrust, and Block 2 will measure 408 feet (124.4 meters) tall, stretching the height of the full stack by roughly 10 feet.