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WATCH STARSHIP LAUNCH REPLAY: SpaceX Rocket Successfully Caught During Flight Test, Starship Splashes Down on Target

By  //  October 13, 2024

primary objective is attempting first ever return to launch site, catch of the Super Heavy booster

WATCH REPLAY: Starship’s fifth flight test is targeted to launch on Sunday, October 13. The 30-minute launch window opens at 8 a.m. ET.

The largest rocket ever built, Starship is 397 feet tall, including the rocket booster, and is fully reusable.

STARBASE LAUNCH FACILITY • BOCA CHICA, TEXAS – SpaceX successfully caught its Super Heavy booster a flight test, a first for the company and its most powerful spacecraft.

“The tower has caught the rocket!!,” said SpaceX Founder Elon Musk on X.

SpaceX’s Starship spacecraft and Super Heavy rocket – collectively referred to as Starship – represent a fully reusable transportation system designed to carry both crew and cargo to Earth orbit, the Moon, Mars and beyond. Starship is the world’s most powerful launch vehicle ever developed, capable of carrying up to 150 metric tonnes fully reusable and 250 metric tonnes expendable.

The largest rocket ever built, Starship is 397 feet tall, including the rocket booster, and is fully reusable.

The fifth flight test of Starship took aim to take another step towards full and rapid reusability. The primary objectives were attempting the first ever return to launch site and catch of the Super Heavy booster and another Starship reentry and landing burn, aiming for an on-target splashdown of Starship in the Indian Ocean.

Starship lifted off from its tower from the Starbase launch facility in Boca Chica, Texas, at 8:25 a.m. ET, powered by 33 of its Raptor engines.

After separating from Starship, the booster was successfully caught for the first time ever in Mechazilla on the tower on the launch pad.

After spending 45 minutes in space, Starship splashed down in the Indian Ocean at 10:30 a.m. ET.

“Ship landed precisely on target! Second of two objectives achieved,” said Musk.

SpaceX engineers have spent years preparing and months testing for the booster catch attempt, with technicians pouring tens of thousands of hours into building the infrastructure to maximize the chance for success.

“We accept no compromises when it comes to ensuring the safety of the public and our team, and the return will only be attempted if conditions are right,” said Musk.

“With each flight building on the learnings from the last, testing improvements in hardware and operations across every facet of Starship, we’re on the verge of demonstrating techniques fundamental to Starship’s fully and rapidly reusable design. By continuing to push our hardware in a flight environment, and doing so as safely and frequently as possible, we’ll rapidly bring Starship online and revolutionize humanity’s ability to access space.”