SpaceX catches giant Starship booster in fifth flight test

Super Heavy booster lifted off from Texas before separating from ship at altitude of about 70km to begin its return to earth

SpaceX’s mechanical arms prepare to catch the returning Super Heavy rocket booster as it makes a vertical descent following the launch of the unmanned Starship, at SpaceX’s Starbase facility in Boca Chica, Texas, on Sunday, October 13, 2024. AFPShow less

SpaceX successfully caught a first-stage booster rocket on Sunday as it returned to the launch pad during a test flight, achieving another novel engineering feat in the company's effort to build a reusable Moon and Mars vehicle.

The Super Heavy booster lifted off from SpaceX's Boca Chica, Texas launch pad, sending the Starship second-stage rocket towards space before separating at an altitude of about 70km to begin its return to land – the most testing part of the flight.

The booster re-lit three of its 33 Raptor engines to slow its rapid descent back to SpaceX's launch site, as it aimed for the launch pad and tower from where it left. The 120 metre-tall tower is fitted with two large metal arms.

SpaceX successfully 'caught' the first-stage booster of its Starship mega-rocket on Sunday as it returned to the launch pad after a test flight. AFP

With its engines roaring, 71 metre-tall Super Heavy booster fell into the launch tower's enclosing arms, hooking itself in place with protruding bars under the fins it had used to steer itself through the air.

“The tower has caught the rocket.” SpaceX chief executive Elon Musk wrote on X after the catch. SpaceX engineers watching the company's live stream roared in applause.

The novel catch-landing method marked the latest advance in SpaceX's test-to-failure development campaign for a fully reusable rocket designed to lift more cargo into orbit, ferry humans to the Moon for Nasa and eventually reach Mars – the ultimate destination envisioned by Mr Musk.

Meanwhile Starship, the rocket system's second stage or top half, cruised at more than 27,300 kph, 140km up in space, heading for the Indian Ocean near Western Australia to demonstrate a controlled splashdown about 90 minutes into flight.

As Starship re-entered Earth's atmosphere horizontally, on-board cameras showed a smooth, pinkish-purple hue of superhot plasma blanketing the ship's Earth-facing side and its two steering flaps – intense hypersonic friction in a glowing aura.

Spectators gather for the launch of SpaceX's Starship in Boca Chica, Texas. Reuters

The ship's hot side is coated with 18,000 heat-shielding tiles that were improved since SpaceX's last test in June, when Starship completed its first full flight to the Indian Ocean but suffered tile damage that made its re-entry difficult.

Starship this time appeared to be more intact on reigniting one of its six Raptor engines to position itself upright for the simulated ocean landing.

The SpaceX live stream showed the rocket touching down in the night waters far off Australia's coast, then toppling on its side, concluding its test mission.

A separate camera view from a vessel near the touchdown site showed the ship exploding into a vast fireball, as SpaceX engineers could be heard on the live stream whooping in celebration. It was unclear whether the explosion was a controlled detonation or the result of a fuel leak.

Mr Musk said the ship landed “precisely on target”.

Starship, first unveiled by Mr Musk in 2017, has exploded several times in various stages of testing on past flights, but successfully completed a full flight in June for the first time.

The US Federal Aviation Administration on Saturday approved SpaceX's launch licence for the fifth test, after weeks of tension between the company and the regulator.