SpaceX launched its massive Spaceship rocket on Sunday in its boldest test flight yet, attempting to catch the returning booster back on the path with mechanical arms.
Standing nearly 400 feet (121 meters) tall, the empty spaceship lifted off at sunrise from the southern tip of Texas, near the Mexican border. It arced over the Gulf of Mexico, just like the four starships before it was eventually destroyedeither shortly after take-off or during an emergency landing on water in the sea. The last one in June was the most successful yet, complete its flight without exploding.
This time, SpaceX founder and CEO Elon Musk increased the challenge and risk. The company wanted to land the first stage booster back on the platform where it had taken off a few minutes earlier. The launch tower had monstrous metal arms called chopsticks ready to catch the descending 71-meter (232-foot) booster.
It was up to the flight director to decide, in real time with manual controls, whether to attempt a landing. SpaceX said both the booster and launch tower had to be in good, stable condition. Otherwise it would end up in the wave like the previous one.
Once free of the booster, the retro-looking stainless steel spacecraft would travel around the world on top, aiming for a controlled landing in the Indian Ocean. The June flight fell short at the end after pieces came loose. SpaceX upgraded the software and reworked the heat shield, improving the thermal tiles.
SpaceX has been reclaiming the first-stage boosters from its smaller Falcon 9 rockets for nine years, after putting satellites and crews into orbit from Florida or California. But they land on floating ocean platforms or on concrete slabs several miles away from their launch pads – not on them.
Recycling Falcon boosters has accelerated launch speed and saved SpaceX millions. Musk plans to do the same for Starship, the largest and most powerful rocket ever built with 33 methane engines on the booster alone. NASA has ordered two spaceships to land astronauts on the moon later this decade. SpaceX plans to use Starship to send people and supplies to the moon and eventually Mars.
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