SPACE/COSMOS
Oct. 13, 2024 / UPI
The fifth test flight of SpaceX’s Starship spacecraft successfully ended Sunday with a controlled “subsonic belly flop” into the Indian Ocean after the 20-story-tall Super Heavy booster returned to the launch site where it was “caught” by a special launch tower nicknamed “Mechazilla." Photo courtesy of SpaceX/X
Oct. 13 (UPI) -- The fifth test flight of SpaceX's Starship spacecraft successfully ended Sunday with a controlled "subsonic belly flop" into the Indian Ocean.
The spacecraft was launched just before 8:30 a.m. Sunday after controversial billionaire Elon Musk's space exploration company received regulatory approval.
Shortly afterward, the 20-story-tall Super Heavy booster return to the launch site where it was "caught" by a special launch tower nicknamed "Mechazilla" after the Mechagodzilla robot created by aliens to destroy Godzilla in the famed film franchise.
"This is absolutely insane!" SpaceX engineer Kate Tice said on the live stream.
That maneuver has already been heralded as a breakthrough in sustainability heralding a new future for spaceflight. But the star of the performance was the splashdown procedure for the Starship spacecraft after reaching space during its hourlong flight.
"Starship is in a subsonic belly flop," SpaceX posted on Musk's X platform, formerly Twitter. Later, the company confirmed the splashdown and called the results of the test flight "exciting."
The company previously called Flight 4 a "tremendous success." That launch had included a fully successful ascent followed by the first-ever booster soft-landing in the Gulf of Mexico and Starship making it through a brilliant re-entry.
"Congratulations to @SpaceX on its successful booster catch and fifth Starship flight test today!" NASA administrator Bill Nelson said 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."
In an engineering feat, mechanical SpaceX arms catch Starship rocket booster back at the launch pad
The moon rises over SpaceX’s mega rocket Starship as it is prepares for a test launch Saturday, Oct. 12, 2024, in Boca Chica, Texas. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)
BY MARCIA DUNN
October 13, 2024
SpaceX pulled off the boldest test flight yet of its enormous Starship rocket on Sunday, catching the returning booster back at the launch pad with mechanical arms.
A jubilant Elon Musk called it “science fiction without the fiction part.”
Towering almost 400 feet (121 meters), the empty Starship blasted off at sunrise from the southern tip of Texas near the Mexican border. It arced over the Gulf of Mexico like the four Starships before it that ended up being destroyed, either soon after liftoff or while ditching into the sea. The previous one in June had been the most successful until Sunday’s demo, completing its flight without exploding.
This time, Musk, SpaceX’s CEO and founder, upped the challenge for the rocket that he plans to use to send people back to the moon and on to Mars.
At the flight director’s command, the first-stage booster flew back to the launch pad where it had blasted off seven minutes earlier. The launch tower’s monstrous metal arms, dubbed chopsticks, caught the descending 232-foot (71-meter) stainless steel booster and gripped it tightly, dangling it well above the ground.
“The tower has caught the rocket!!” Musk announced via X. “Big step towards making life multiplanetary was made today.”
Company employees screamed in joy, jumping and pumping their fists into the air. NASA joined in the celebration, with Administrator Bill Nelson sending congratulations.
Continued testing of Starship will prepare the nation for landing astronauts at the moon’s south pole, Nelson noted. NASA’s new Artemis program is the follow-up to Apollo, which put 12 men on the moon more than a half-century ago.
“Folks, this is a day for the engineering history books,” SpaceX engineering manager Kate Tice said from SpaceX headquarters in Hawthorne, California.
“Even in this day and age, what we just saw is magic,” added company spokesman Dan Huot from near the launch and landing site. “I am shaking right now.”
It was up to the flight director to decide, in real time with a manual control, whether to attempt the landing. SpaceX said both the booster and launch tower had to be in good, stable condition. Otherwise, it was going to end up in the gulf like the previous ones. Everything was judged to be ready for the catch.
The retro-looking spacecraft launched by the booster continued around the world, soaring more than 130 miles (212 kilometers) high. An hour after liftoff, it made a controlled landing in the Indian Ocean, adding to the day’s achievement. Cameras on a nearby buoy showed flames shooting up from the water as the spacecraft impacted precisely at the targeted spot and sank, as planned.
“What a day,” Huot said. “Let’s get ready for the next one.”
The June flight came up short at the end after pieces came off. SpaceX upgraded the software and reworked the heat shield, improving the thermal tiles.
SpaceX has been recovering the first-stage boosters of its smaller Falcon 9 rockets for nine years, after delivering satellites and crews to orbit from Florida or California. But they land on floating ocean platforms or on concrete slabs several miles from their launch pads — not on them.
Recycling Falcon boosters has sped up the launch rate and saved SpaceX millions. Musk intends to do the same for Starship, the biggest and most powerful rocket ever built with 33 methane-fuel engines on the booster alone.
Musk said the captured Starship booster looked to be in good shape, with just a little warping of some of the outer engines from all the heat and aerodynamic forces. That can be fixed easily, he noted.
NASA has ordered two Starships to land astronauts on the moon later this decade. SpaceX intends to use Starship to send people and supplies to the moon and, eventually Mars.
The 400ft rocket blasted off at sunrise, completing its fight, and separated its first stage booster, which was caught back on the pad to applause from the team. A jubilant Elon Musk called it “science fiction without the fiction part.”
This image provided by SpaceX shows SpaceX’s mega rocket booster returning to the launch pad to be captured during a test flight Sunday, Oct. 13, 2024, in Boca Chica, Texas. (SpaceX via AP)
This image provided by SpaceX shows SpaceX’s mega Starship rocket upon its return during a test flight, Sunday, Oct. 13, 2024, over Boca Chica, Texas. (SpaceX via AP)
SpaceX’s mega rocket Starship lifts off from Starbase for a test flight Sunday, Oct. 13, 2024, in Boca Chica,, Texas. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)
This image provided by SpaceX shows SpaceX’s mega rocket booster returning to the launch pad to be captured during a test flight Sunday, Oct. 13, 2024, in Boca Chica, Texas. (SpaceX via AP)
This image provided by SpaceX shows SpaceX’s mega rocket booster returning to the launch pad to be captured during a test flight Sunday, Oct. 13, 2024, in Boca Chica, Texas. (SpaceX via AP)
People take photos as the sun sets behind SpaceX’s mega rocket Starship, Saturday, Oct. 12, 2024, in Boca Chica, Texas. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)
This image provided by SpaceX shows SpaceX’s mega Starship rocket, Sunday, Oct. 13, 2024, over Boca Chica, Texas. (SpaceX via AP)
This image provided by SpaceX shows SpaceX’s mega Starship rocket returning during a test flight, Sunday, Oct. 13, 2024, over Boca Chica, Texas. (SpaceX via AP)
This image provided by SpaceX shows SpaceX’s mega Starship rocket seconds before landing in the water in the Indian Ocean after returning during a test flight, Sunday, Oct. 13, 2024. (SpaceX via AP)
This image provided by SpaceX shows smoke and fire from SpaceX’s mega Starship rocket after landing in the water in the Indian Ocean after returning during a test flight, Sunday, Oct. 13, 2024. (SpaceX via AP)
This image provided by SpaceX shows SpaceX’s mega Starship rocket, Sunday, Oct. 13, 2024, over Boca Chica, Texas. (SpaceX via AP)
A Tesla Cybertruck passes as the sun sets behind SpaceX’s mega rocket Starship, Saturday, Oct. 12, 2024, in Boca Chica, Texas. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)
The sun sets behind SpaceX’s mega rocket Starship, Saturday, Oct. 12, 2024, in Boca Chica, Texas. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)
Noah Jansko watches as the sun sets behind SpaceX’s mega rocket Starship, Saturday, Oct. 12, 2024, in Boca Chica, Texas. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)
The moon rises over SpaceX’s mega rocket Starship as it is prepares for a test launch Saturday, Oct. 12, 2024, in Boca Chica, Texas. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)
BY MARCIA DUNN
October 13, 2024
SpaceX pulled off the boldest test flight yet of its enormous Starship rocket on Sunday, catching the returning booster back at the launch pad with mechanical arms.
A jubilant Elon Musk called it “science fiction without the fiction part.”
Towering almost 400 feet (121 meters), the empty Starship blasted off at sunrise from the southern tip of Texas near the Mexican border. It arced over the Gulf of Mexico like the four Starships before it that ended up being destroyed, either soon after liftoff or while ditching into the sea. The previous one in June had been the most successful until Sunday’s demo, completing its flight without exploding.
This time, Musk, SpaceX’s CEO and founder, upped the challenge for the rocket that he plans to use to send people back to the moon and on to Mars.
At the flight director’s command, the first-stage booster flew back to the launch pad where it had blasted off seven minutes earlier. The launch tower’s monstrous metal arms, dubbed chopsticks, caught the descending 232-foot (71-meter) stainless steel booster and gripped it tightly, dangling it well above the ground.
“The tower has caught the rocket!!” Musk announced via X. “Big step towards making life multiplanetary was made today.”
Company employees screamed in joy, jumping and pumping their fists into the air. NASA joined in the celebration, with Administrator Bill Nelson sending congratulations.
Continued testing of Starship will prepare the nation for landing astronauts at the moon’s south pole, Nelson noted. NASA’s new Artemis program is the follow-up to Apollo, which put 12 men on the moon more than a half-century ago.
“Folks, this is a day for the engineering history books,” SpaceX engineering manager Kate Tice said from SpaceX headquarters in Hawthorne, California.
“Even in this day and age, what we just saw is magic,” added company spokesman Dan Huot from near the launch and landing site. “I am shaking right now.”
It was up to the flight director to decide, in real time with a manual control, whether to attempt the landing. SpaceX said both the booster and launch tower had to be in good, stable condition. Otherwise, it was going to end up in the gulf like the previous ones. Everything was judged to be ready for the catch.
The retro-looking spacecraft launched by the booster continued around the world, soaring more than 130 miles (212 kilometers) high. An hour after liftoff, it made a controlled landing in the Indian Ocean, adding to the day’s achievement. Cameras on a nearby buoy showed flames shooting up from the water as the spacecraft impacted precisely at the targeted spot and sank, as planned.
“What a day,” Huot said. “Let’s get ready for the next one.”
The June flight came up short at the end after pieces came off. SpaceX upgraded the software and reworked the heat shield, improving the thermal tiles.
SpaceX has been recovering the first-stage boosters of its smaller Falcon 9 rockets for nine years, after delivering satellites and crews to orbit from Florida or California. But they land on floating ocean platforms or on concrete slabs several miles from their launch pads — not on them.
Recycling Falcon boosters has sped up the launch rate and saved SpaceX millions. Musk intends to do the same for Starship, the biggest and most powerful rocket ever built with 33 methane-fuel engines on the booster alone.
Musk said the captured Starship booster looked to be in good shape, with just a little warping of some of the outer engines from all the heat and aerodynamic forces. That can be fixed easily, he noted.
NASA has ordered two Starships to land astronauts on the moon later this decade. SpaceX intends to use Starship to send people and supplies to the moon and, eventually Mars.
The 400ft rocket blasted off at sunrise, completing its fight, and separated its first stage booster, which was caught back on the pad to applause from the team. A jubilant Elon Musk called it “science fiction without the fiction part.”
This image provided by SpaceX shows SpaceX’s mega rocket booster returning to the launch pad to be captured during a test flight Sunday, Oct. 13, 2024, in Boca Chica, Texas. (SpaceX via AP)
This image provided by SpaceX shows SpaceX’s mega Starship rocket upon its return during a test flight, Sunday, Oct. 13, 2024, over Boca Chica, Texas. (SpaceX via AP)
SpaceX’s mega rocket Starship lifts off from Starbase for a test flight Sunday, Oct. 13, 2024, in Boca Chica,, Texas. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)
This image provided by SpaceX shows SpaceX’s mega rocket booster returning to the launch pad to be captured during a test flight Sunday, Oct. 13, 2024, in Boca Chica, Texas. (SpaceX via AP)
This image provided by SpaceX shows SpaceX’s mega rocket booster returning to the launch pad to be captured during a test flight Sunday, Oct. 13, 2024, in Boca Chica, Texas. (SpaceX via AP)
People take photos as the sun sets behind SpaceX’s mega rocket Starship, Saturday, Oct. 12, 2024, in Boca Chica, Texas. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)
This image provided by SpaceX shows SpaceX’s mega Starship rocket, Sunday, Oct. 13, 2024, over Boca Chica, Texas. (SpaceX via AP)
This image provided by SpaceX shows SpaceX’s mega Starship rocket returning during a test flight, Sunday, Oct. 13, 2024, over Boca Chica, Texas. (SpaceX via AP)
This image provided by SpaceX shows SpaceX’s mega Starship rocket seconds before landing in the water in the Indian Ocean after returning during a test flight, Sunday, Oct. 13, 2024. (SpaceX via AP)
This image provided by SpaceX shows smoke and fire from SpaceX’s mega Starship rocket after landing in the water in the Indian Ocean after returning during a test flight, Sunday, Oct. 13, 2024. (SpaceX via AP)
This image provided by SpaceX shows SpaceX’s mega Starship rocket, Sunday, Oct. 13, 2024, over Boca Chica, Texas. (SpaceX via AP)
A Tesla Cybertruck passes as the sun sets behind SpaceX’s mega rocket Starship, Saturday, Oct. 12, 2024, in Boca Chica, Texas. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)
The sun sets behind SpaceX’s mega rocket Starship, Saturday, Oct. 12, 2024, in Boca Chica, Texas. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)
Noah Jansko watches as the sun sets behind SpaceX’s mega rocket Starship, Saturday, Oct. 12, 2024, in Boca Chica, Texas. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)
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The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science and Educational Media Group. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science and Educational Media Group. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
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