Gulf of Mexico

SpaceX launched the 14th flight of its Starship rocket from Starbase, Texas, with the live stream covering liftoff and the Super Heavy booster's splashdown in the Gulf of Mexico. The launch drew well over a million engagements as space enthusiasts followed updates on the vehicle's ascent, stage separation and recovery performance in SpaceX's ongoing test campaign toward reusable deep-space flight.

A SpaceX booster splashed down in the Gulf of Mexico off the Texas coast after carrying out a simulated landing burn, meaning the rocket rehearsed its descent sequence without attempting a full recovery. The test is part of SpaceX's ongoing effort to refine booster reusability for its launch programme. Coverage highlights the company's iterative approach, in which boosters are deliberately expended to gather data on landing procedures.