On October 13, SpaceX successfully conducted the fifth test flight of its Starship spacecraft, launching the Starship 5 from its private spaceport, Starbase, in Boca Chica, Texas. This mission marked a significant milestone, as the Super Heavy rocket booster made a successful return to the launch site seven minutes after liftoff, where it was captured mid-air by a robotic arm referred to as “The Chopsticks.”
According to reports from various media outlets, the launch took place at 7:25 AM local time. This was the first flight designed specifically to have the Super Heavy booster return directly to the launch point and be caught by the mechanical arm on the launch tower.
Space news site Space.com reported that the booster separated from the Starship at an altitude of approximately 74 kilometers. After flying for about seven minutes, the booster returned to the launch tower, while the Starship continued its journey and ultimately fell into the Indian Ocean, where it exploded after completing its mission.
Elon Musk, the founder of SpaceX, took to social media platform X to announce, “The tower has caught the rocket.” SpaceX stated that the primary objectives of this test included successfully capturing the booster and ensuring that the Starship could re-enter the atmosphere and perform a controlled landing, with hopes of a planned splashdown.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) confirmed on October 12 that it had approved this test flight, indicating that SpaceX met all safety and environmental requirements for this orbital flight. A spokesperson from SpaceX’s California headquarters, stated, “This day is worthy of the history books in engineering.”
According to Reuters, both the Starship and the Super Heavy rockets are fully reusable systems aimed at transporting people and cargo to Earth’s orbit, the Moon, and beyond. Musk envisions a future where Starship could carry humans to Mars, and NASA is also looking forward to using an improved version of Starship for future Artemis crewed missions to the Moon.
The Starship system consists of two main components: the spacecraft itself and the Super Heavy rocket that propels it. SpaceX attempted its first flight of Starship in April of last year, which ended in an explosion four minutes after launch, with the two parts failing to separate. The second test in November likewise concluded with an explosion post-separation, resulting in the loss of signal from the spacecraft. In March of this year, during the third test, both components did separate but splashed down in the Gulf of Mexico instead of the intended Indian Ocean. Finally, in June, Starship successfully re-entered the atmosphere and splashed down in the Indian Ocean, which thrilled Musk as he celebrated this achievement.
