After separation from the upper stage, the lower-stage booster will attempt to return to Starbase to land at its launch tower. The company achieved the feat during the fifth flight of Starship on Oct. 13 but was unable to repeat it on the sixth flight in November. That booster diverted to a water landing in the Gulf of Mexico.

SpaceX on Monday launched a Falcon 9 rocket with its first Starlink mission of the new year, sending 24 satellites to low-Earth orbit from Florida.