Spacex Launched Starship For The Sixth Time But Canceled The Highly-anticipated 'chopsticks' Maneuver Minutes After Lift-off

SpaceX launched its Starship mega-rocket for the sixth time.SpaceXSpaceX launched its Starship mega-rocket system on Tuesday for the sixth time.SpaceX didn't attempt to catch the Super Heavy booster by a pair of "chopsticks" mid-air as planned.Starship moving towards full, rapid reusability is key to Elon Musk's plans for Mars.SpaceX launched its Starship mega-rocket for the sixth time on Tuesday, but the main event was canceled.The space company successfully launched the 36-story-tall rocket system but ended up abandoning its plan to catch the Super Heavy booster upon its return to Earth with a giant pair of metal arms, nicknamed "chopsticks."SpaceX achieved the major feat for the first time in October, during Starship's fifth test launch.In October, SpaceX caught its Super Heavy booster in mid-air.SpaceXElon Musk, SpaceX founder and CEO, has said his plans of building a Mars city rests on Starship.The Starship rocket system is the largest ever built, consisting of two stages: a Super Heavy booster at the bottom and a Starship on top.On Tuesday, Super Heavy's 33 Raptor engines roared to life, heaving Starship through the skies.After about three minutes, Super Heavy released itself and fell back to Earth.When the catch attempt was called off, the booster splashed down in the Gulf of Mexico nearly seven minutes after launch while Starship continued on toward space.Super Heavy booster landed in the Gulf of Mexico on Tuesday.SpaceXSpaceX officials said on the company's livestream that the catch wasn't attempted this time because "strict criteria were not met" and this was a known possibility before launch.During Starship's fifth test flight in October, SpaceX successfully caught the Super Heavy booster with a giant pair of metal arms, nicknamed "chopsticks," that caught it before it reached the ground.Starship splashed down in the Indian Ocean as expected.SpaceXSpaceX's next major milestone for StarshipUltimately, Starship is designed to be the first ever fully, rapidly reusable rocket.SpaceX has been reusing its fleet of Falcon 9 rockets for years, but only the first stage returns for reuse, the second stage is discarded after each launch.Moreover, the Falcon 9 first stage lands on a barge in the ocean and must be retrieved for reuse, which takes extra time.Starship is different.