Starship's 15th flight cancels booster recovery... upper stage continues flight

SpaceX's 15th Starship test flight launched from Starbase, Texas, but the planned tower catch of the Super Heavy booster was called off minutes after liftoff due to a technical issue, and the booster exploded after splashing down in the Gulf of Mexico while the upper ship continued its flight. The mission had aimed to return both the booster and upper stage to the launch tower for mechanical-arm capture in a single flight. The scrub marks another setback for SpaceX's fully reusable launch architecture, which underpins its Starlink expansion and NASA lunar lander plans. Watch for SpaceX's post-flight review of the catch abort and the timing of the next integrated test.