On Sunday, Elon Musk’s Space X marked a remarkable achievement by successfully catching the colossal booster stage of its Starship rocket using a sophisticated pair of robotic arms as it descended towards the launchpad in southern Texas. This groundbreaking event garnered accolades from astronauts and space enthusiasts alike, highlighting a triumphant fifth test flight of the uncrewed Starship. The rocket ascended from the Boca Chica launch site at precisely 7:25 a.m. local time (1325 BST).
As the 71-meter (233-foot) Super Heavy booster detached approximately 40 miles (65 kilometers) above the Earth’s surface, the upper stage continued its ascent, reaching an altitude of nearly 90 miles. It circled the globe at an impressive speed of 17,000 mph before making a planned splashdown in the Indian Ocean. Cheers erupted from Space X personnel as the descending booster reignited three of its Raptor engines, decelerating its rapid plummet before deftly maneuvering toward the “mechazilla” launch tower, where it was securely gripped by the mechanical arms, affectionately dubbed “chopsticks.”
This endeavor marks the first occasion Space X has undertaken such an audacious maneuver, which is considered vital for the company’s ambition to create fully reusable rockets capable of transporting humans, scientific instruments, and supplies to the Moon and eventually Mars. “Are you kidding me?” exclaimed Dan Huot, Space X’s communications manager, visibly awestruck by the spectacle. “What we just witnessed looked like magic.”
Kate Tice, a quality systems engineer at Space X’s headquarters in Hawthorne, California, echoed this sentiment, declaring, “This is a day for the engineering history books.” Meanwhile, the remainder of the Starship re-entered the Earth’s atmosphere in a horizontal orientation. Footage from onboard cameras showcased a smooth, pinkish-purple plasma enveloping the vehicle’s Earth-facing side. The hot surface of the ship is adorned with 18,000 heat-shielding tiles, which have been enhanced since Space X’s last test in June, when the Starship completed its inaugural full test flight but suffered tile damage during re-entry.
This time, Starship appeared more resilient as it reignited one of its six engines to right itself for the ocean landing. A live stream from Space X captured the rocket splashing down in the nocturnal waters off the Australian coast, ultimately toppling onto its side, marking the conclusion of its test mission. A separate camera angle from a vessel stationed near the splashdown site revealed the ship erupting into a spectacular fireball, leaving observers uncertain whether the explosion resulted from a controlled detonation or a fuel leak. Musk triumphantly announced that the ship landed “precisely on target!”
In response to Space X’s successful retrieval of the Starship booster, former Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield took to X, commenting, “There was an enormous step forward in human capability today. Makes me even more excited for our collective future. Congratulations to all at Space X!”
