Verdict: False

The maneuver was pre-planned, and the result was expected.

Fact Check:

Elon Musk’s SpaceX program made history in October when it successfully “caught” it’s Starship rocket using what they call “chopsticks.” In a test flight launched from the company’s Starbase launch facility in south Texas, a massive rocket booster detached from a Starship rocket and was caught by a tower with metal arms and hooked into place. The test was considered a major success, with commentators called it a “feat of engineering.”

Another flight, the sixth test of this model, took place in late November with the Starship landing in the Indian Ocean and the Super Heavy Booster landing in the waters of the Gulf of Mexico. A post on X says that the rocket “exploded” while attempting a landing, heavily implying that that result was an accident and a failure.

This is not true, however. It’s landing in the Gulf happened as expected. Footage of the landing shows that the spacecraft performed a “landing burn,” which is the final stage of descent and involves rockets firing to cause a decrease in speed and assist in a soft landing. According to a community note placed on the viral tweet, this maneuver was pre-planned. (RELATED: Posts Claiming Elon Musk Banned Pride Content From X Are Based On Satire)

Watch Starship’s sixth flight test https://t.co/acpdO2brbP

— SpaceX (@SpaceX) November 16, 2024

The rocket looked to explode because it was venting gas. The flight was meant to be caught by “Mechazilla,” the internal name for the metal catching apparatus, but was aborted due to safety criteria not being met.