Elon Musk’s SpaceX Pulls Off A Great Feat, Launches Starship Rocket and Catches Giant Starship Booster

Elon Musk’s SpaceX Starship rocket has completed a world first after part of it was captured on its return to the launch pad.

The SpaceX vehicle’s lower half maneuvered back beside its launch tower where it was caught in a giant pair of mechanical arms, as part of its fifth test flight.

SpaceX Starship Rocket Caught In A Pair Of Mechanical Arms

According to Reuters, the rocket’s first stage “Super Heavy” booster lifted off at 7:25 a.m. CT (1225 GMT) from SpaceX’s Boca Chica, Texas launch facilities.

Thereby sending the Starship second stage rocket toward space before separating at an altitude of roughly 70 km (40 miles) to begin its return to land – the most daring part of the test flight.

Also, the spacecraft came through the hellish heat of re-entry in relatively good condition, protected by improved heat-shield tiles and beefed-up steering fins that worked as needed while engulfed in a fireball of atmospheric friction.

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With its engines roaring, the 233-foot (71 meters)-tall Super Heavy booster fell into the launch tower’s enclosing arms. Consequently, the booster hooked itself in place by tiny, protruding bars under the four forward grid fins it had used to steer itself through the air.

“The tower has caught the rocket!!” CEO Elon Musk wrote on X after the catch attempt.

SpaceX engineers watching the company’s livestream roared in applause.

SpaceX Starship Rocket Feat Considered As An Extraordinary Achievement

SpaceX can now point to some extraordinary achievements in the past two test flights. This comes only eighteen months after its inaugural flight, which saw the vehicle blown apart not long after launch.

SpaceX argues that these failures are also part of its development plan – to launch early in the expectation of failure so that it can collect as much data as possible and develop its systems quicker than its rivals.

The initial stages of the ascent of the fifth test were the same as the previous outing, with the Ship and booster separating two and three-quarter minutes after leaving the ground.

Additionally, the company had said that thousands of criteria had to be met for the attempt to be made.

“Ship landed precisely on target! Second of the two objectives achieved”, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk wrote on X.

Not only was the ship landed accurately but SpaceX also managed to preserve some of the vehicle’s hardware, which it had not expected.

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