SpaceX launches 15th Starship flight test, Super Heavy booster splashes down in Gulf of Mexico

LOS ANGELES, Nov. 13 (Xinhua) -- SpaceX launched its giant Starship rocket on its 15th flight test on Friday, but the Super Heavy booster failed to return to the launch site for a planned catch by the launch tower's mechanical arms and instead splashed down in the Gulf of Mexico.

The rocket lifted off from SpaceX's Starbase facility in the U.S. state of Texas at about 4:48 p.m. Central Time.

The mission marked the company's first planned attempt to catch both the Super Heavy booster and the Starship spacecraft using the launch tower's mechanical arms during a single flight.

After stage separation, the booster was diverted from its planned return to the launch site and made an offshore splashdown in the Gulf of Mexico.