Starship's previous six test flights occurred in April and November of 2023 and March, June, October and November of last year. SpaceX aimed to conduct a chopsticks catch of Super Heavy on Flight 6 as well, but a communication issue with the launch tower nixed that try, and the booster diverted for a Gulf of Mexico splashdown.

SpaceX launched Starship on Thursday for a seventh test flight, after weather concerns pushed back an experiment that will feature the spacecraft’s first payload deployment test, and while it successfully caught the Super Heavy Booster, SpaceX lost communication with Starship shortly after.