SpaceX Starship megarocket blasts off before expected return for reuse

SpaceX’s Starship megarocket blasted off from Texas on Friday afternoon, as the aerospace company sought to make history with a double catch of its reusable rocket.

Starship Flight 15 is expected to orbit the Earth about 14 times over the course of 22 hours, before the company catches the rocket at its launchpad at Starbase, in south Texas.

The rocket itself was composed of two elements: the lower booster, with 33 raptor engines that fired off during takeoff, and the Starship at the top.

SpaceX had planned for both components to return to its tower, but the booster, named Super Heavy, was aborted and splashed down in the sea. The cause of that diversion remains unknown.

The Starship continued on sailing through space.

SpaceX has launched a flurry of test flights in recent years, as its chief executive Elon Musk pushes his vision of taking humans into space.