Brandon Livesay
Live editor

Image source, Getty Images

The sixth test flight of SpaceX's Starship was a mixed bag of success along with some disappointment.

With President-elect Donald Trump at the launch site in Texas with Elon Musk, the rocket blasted into the sky right on time and surged above the Earth.

The two sections of the rocket splashed down in opposite sides of the world, the Heavy Booster in the Gulf of Mexico and the Starship in the Indian Ocean off the coast of Australia.

But we did not see the remarkable pincer-like "chopstick" catch of the booster, which was achieved during the fifth test flight.

A safety parameter was not met, so the catch of the booster was aborted.

We're wrapping up our live coverage of the test flight, but you can watch the moment of the launch at the top of this page.

Thanks for joining us.

In case you missed the dramatic moment itself, take a look at these images to see what the Starship blast off looked like from the ground.

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

SpaceX's enormous Starship is the largest to ever successfully leave the launchpad.

The massive thrust needed to launch it creates a lot of noise – but is it the loudest rocket ever?

Compare it to the Saturn V rocket of the 1960s and 1970s - one of the loudest things ever created by humans.

When Apollo astronauts blasted off on their missions to the Moon, they did so with more than 3.2 miles (5.1km) from onlookers.

Nasa's measurements at the time captured the launch noise at 204 decibels.

Starship has the most thrust of any spacecraft ever launched, so on paper at least, it should be louder than anything launched before it.

Our colleagues at BBC Future have dug into the math to figure it out, which you can read about below:

• Read more: Is SpaceX's Starship the loudest ever rocket?

Why didn't SpaceX attempt to catch the rocket this time?published at 23:14 Greenwich Mean Time 19 November

23:14 GMT 19 November

Pallab Ghosh
Science correspondent

There are so many things that have to be exactly right to successfully catch a rocket booster the size of a 20-story building as it slows down from supersonic speed at the launch tower.

In the previous successful attempt, flight engineers were just one second from aborting.

For the catch to be attempted, flight engineers have to give a verbal “Go” for both the tower and the booster.

Today, there was a "Go" for the tower. So initial indications are that there may have been an issue with the booster section, and the flight team followed its procedures and sent it for a safe splashdown in the Gulf of Mexico.

Although the failure to reproduce the catch will be disappointing, SpaceX has made rapid progress in developing Starship since its very first test flight, which was only 19 months ago.

The firm’s approach is to test fast, fail fast and learn fast in its effort to build a fully reusable spacecraft to send astronauts to the Moon and then on to Mars.

SpaceX officials who are narrating their live feed say they do not expect to recover the upper stage, Starship. It just touched down in the Indian Ocean somewhere off the coast of Western Australia.

Earlier, the Super Heavy booster half also descended into the water in the Gulf of Mexico.

After slowing to safe speeds, the rocket used flaps on board to position itself nose down towards the water.

A flash of flames could be seen moments before impact, as the entire ship righted itself before splashing down.

Image source, SpaceX

The Starship spacecraft has just landed in the Indian Ocean.

Image source, SpaceX

As the Starship returns to Earth, it will become transonic. This means that its speed is hovering around the speed of sound.

Temperatures outside the rocket are now cooling, meaning it has already reached its highest levels while re-entering the atmosphere.

On the live feed from the rocket, we can now see Earth in frame as the rocket descends.

You can watch the descent and landing live at the top of this page.

Image source, Getty Images

We're still waiting for the Starship to land, which it will do somewhere in the Indian Ocean. Here's what has happened so far:

• It launched on time at 17:00 EST (22:00 GMT), as Elon Musk watched on with President-elect Donald Trump in Texas
• The rocket separated into two halves shortly after it launched. The bottom half, Super Heavy, was supposed to be captured by the launch tower, but an issue today meant it was not possible
• It instead splashed down in the Gulf of Mexico minutes after launch
• The Starship continues to fly east across the world, aiming for the Indian Ocean. The journey takes about 45 minutes

• SpaceX says everything is working as it should so far

Stick with us, it's not too long to until the Starship descends.

Starship has successfully ignited one of its Raptor engines while in space for the first time, SpaceX says in a post on X.

Six of these power the Starship, the top of the rocket.

The Starship separates in orbit, with the top half ascending.

The bottom half has already returned to Earth, splashing down in the Gulf of Mexico.

The top half will then orbit around the Earth, heading east over the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Ocean.

It will then head to the Indian Ocean, where it's expected to land in the water.

Musk says it will take just 45 minutes to go halfway around the world.

In a post on X, SpaceX says that 30 minutes into the sixth flight test "all systems continue to look nominal".

Image source, Reuters

While we await Starship's return to Earth, here's a look at the key numbers:

• It is fully loaded with more than 4,500 metric tonnes of propellant
• It's 121m (397ft) tall in total. The top, Starship, is 50m (165ft) and the lower Super Heavy half stands at 71m (232ft) tall
• And it's 9m (29.5) in diameter
• There are six raptor engines powering the Starship and 33 for Super Heavy

Image source, SpaceX

There aren't any people on this rocket today - but there is a banana strapped inside of it, hanging from a metal structure.

In a post on X, Space X says: "This universally-accepted measurement of scale is approximately the size of one Starlink Mini."

Starship is now about 35 minutes from returning to Earth, after about one hour in space.

It's expected to splashdown in the Indian Ocean, as long as the re-entry protocols all function correctly.

One thing to watch is the tile heat shield, and whether it can withstand entering Earth's atmosphere.

SpaceX has said it aims to create a reusable heat shield, something that doesn't currently exist.

Image source, Reuters

Elon Musk is hosting President-elect Donald Trump in a control room in Brownsville, Texas, where they've just watched the successful launch of SpaceX's Starship.

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

The bottom half of Starship - the Super Heavy Booster - has just splashed down in the Gulf of Mexico, after just minutes in the air.

The SpaceX team opted for an ocean splashdown this time, aborting the planned booster catch, due to an issue.

A large applause erupted in the control room as it dipped below the surface of the water.

Image source, Getty Images

We're a few minutes into the launch now, and the rocket appears to be safely sailing into space.

A huge orange cloud shrouded the rocket for a moment as it left the ground.

On the ground, the noise of the rocket can still be heard.

Image source, Reuters

SpaceX has just launched the Starship on another test flight.

It will soon break into two parts, with the top half orbiting halfway around the world.

You can tap the watch live button above to see it, and we'll keep you updated on the highlights here.

Across the water in Texas, crowds of people have gathered with binoculars to watch the Starship take off.

Image source, Gabriel V. Cardenas

Image source, Gabriel V. Cardenas

The SpaceX rocket is now less than 10 minutes away from launching into space.

Hit watch live at the top this page to catch the moment Starship blasts off.

Image source, Reuters