SpaceX successfully recovers Super Heavy rocket upon return to base

Oct. 14 () –

SpaceX has successfully launched and recovered when the rocket returned to base Super Heavy of a Starship. “Launch and return of the most powerful rocket in the world“, the company celebrated.

Starship’s fifth flight test has taken off this Sunday with the “most ambitious test objectives so far”, as SpaceX works to demonstrate techniques critical to the reusable design of Starship and Super Heavy.

“On our first attempt, Mechazilla caught the booster“, the company said in a statement, explaining that, after a successful takeoff, ascent, stage separation, recovery burn and glide, the Super Heavy rocket performed its landing burn and was caught by the arms of the launch and capture tower at Starbase.

Thousands of different vehicle and platform criteria had to be met before the capture attempt and, thanks to the work of the engineers, they managed to catch it on their first attempt.

Prior to capture, Starship executed another successful hot separation, igniting its six Raptor engines and completing the ascent into outer space..

It glided along its planned trajectory to the other side of the planet before executing a controlled re-entry, passing through maximum warm-up and maximum aerodynamic pressure phases, before executing a turn, landing fuel burn, and splashdown in its area. target in the Indian Ocean. The flight test concluded with splashdown 1 hour, 5 minutes and 40 seconds after launch.

“The entire SpaceX team should be proud of the engineering feat they just accomplished.”. “The world witnessed what the future will look like when Starship begins transporting crew and cargo to destinations on Earth, the Moon, Mars and beyond,” the company notes.