SpaceX Launches Fifth Starship And Catches Booster for the First Time

The American aerospace company SpaceX launched this Sunday its fifth test flight for its uncrewed rocket Starship, and, for the first time, caught the 233 foot—71 meters—tall Super Heavy booster back in the launch tower’s arm.

According to Reuters, the launch and reception took place in Texas at Tesla’s facility. The rocket Starship continued its way to space after detaching from its booster at an altitude of 40 miles—around 70 kilometers. To go back to the launch pad, the booster slowed down its fall by turning on again its 33 engines and slowly going back into the large metal arms of the base tower.

SpaceX shared the video on X with the booster’s path and the celebration of the historic engineering achievement, reaching over 33 million views.

Mechazilla has caught the Super Heavy booster! pic.twitter.com/6R5YatSVJX

— SpaceX (@SpaceX) October 13, 2024

The NASA administrator, Bill Nelson, congratulated SpaceX on X: “As we prepare to go back to the Moon under Artemis, continued testing will prepare us for the bold missions that lie ahead — including to the South Pole region of the moon and then on to Mars.”

Starship is part of the company’s project to launch 5 uncrewed missions within the next two years before sending humans to Mars, announced last month.

According to the New York Times, SpaceX had experience bringing back the boosters, but they landed on a floating platform before. It’s the first time it goes back to the tower’s “chopsticks”, as the company nicknamed the mechanical arms. The company expects to use the same structure as a catch-landing method to bring back Starships as well.

Starship has improved over time since it was announced in 2017. During the first tests multiple rockets exploded, but in June the company completed a full flight for the first time. With this launch, the company improved its heat-shielding tiles—one of the challenges of the past launch.