SpaceX's sixth Starship test flight successful despite abandoning booster catch

SpaceX conducted its sixth Starship test flight on Tuesday, with CEO Elon Musk joined by U.S. President-elect Donald Trump to observe from the control room. While the launch went well, SpaceX quickly aborted plans to catch the first-stage Super Heavy booster, instead opting for a standard ocean splashdown.

Starship launched from SpaceX's Starbase launch pad in Brownsville, Texas at 4 p.m. local time (5 p.m. EST / 2 p.m. PST). Building on Starship's fifth test flight early last month, objectives...