{"id":44689,"date":"2024-10-14T18:36:26","date_gmt":"2024-10-14T10:36:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/spacex-catches-returning-rocket-in-mid-air-turning-a-fanciful-idea-into-reality\/"},"modified":"2024-10-14T18:36:26","modified_gmt":"2024-10-14T10:36:26","slug":"spacex-catches-returning-rocket-in-mid-air-turning-a-fanciful-idea-into-reality","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/spacex-catches-returning-rocket-in-mid-air-turning-a-fanciful-idea-into-reality\/","title":{"rendered":"SpaceX catches returning rocket in mid-air, turning a fanciful idea into reality"},"content":{"rendered":"

BOCA CHICA BEACH, Texas\u2014SpaceX accomplished a groundbreaking engineering feat Sunday when it launched the fifth test flight of its gigantic Starship rocket and then caught the booster back at the launch pad in Texas with mechanical arms seven minutes later.<\/p>\n

This achievement is the first of its kind, and it\u2019s crucial for SpaceX\u2019s vision of rapidly reusing the Starship rocket, enabling human expeditions to the Moon and Mars, routine access to space for mind-bogglingly massive payloads, and novel capabilities that no other company\u2014or country\u2014seems close to attaining.<\/p>\n

The test flight began with a thundering liftoff of the 398-foot-tall (121.3-meter) Starship rocket at 7:25 am CDT (12:25 UTC) from SpaceX\u2019s Starbase launch site in South Texas, a few miles north of the US-Mexico border. The rocket\u2019s Super Heavy booster stage fired 33 Raptor engines, generating nearly 17 million pounds of thrust and gulping 20 tons of methane and liquid oxygen propellants per second at full throttle.<\/p>\n

This is twice the power of NASA\u2019s Saturn V rocket, which was used to send astronauts to the Moon more than 50 years ago.<\/p>\n

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The fifth full-scale test flight of SpaceX\u2019s new-generation Starship rocket lifted off from South Texas at sunrise Sunday morning.<\/p>\n

Credit:
\n Stephen Clark\/Ars Technica<\/p>\n<\/figure>\n

After a vertical ascent from its coastal launch pad, the Starship rocket arced toward the east over the Gulf of Mexico. All 33 engines fired for more than two-and-a-half minutes, accelerating the rocket to nearly 3,300 mph (5,300 km\/hr) before shutting off as the Starship upper stage ignited six more Raptor engines to continue the climb into space.<\/p>\n

While Starship executed a seemingly flawless engine firing to accelerate itself to near orbital velocity, most observers, whether watching SpaceX\u2019s live webcast or attending the launch in person, kept their eyes glued on the Super Heavy booster.<\/p>\n

High over the Gulf of Mexico, the rocket used its engines to reverse course and head back toward the Texas coastline. After reaching a peak altitude of 59 miles (96 kilometers), the Super Heavy booster began a supersonic descent before reigniting 13 engines for a final braking burn. The rocket then shifted down to just three engines for the fine maneuvering required to position the rocket in a hover over the launch pad. Crackling sonic booms rippled across the mud flats.<\/p>\n

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That\u2019s when the launch pad\u2019s tower, dubbed Mechazilla, ensnared the rocket in its two weight-bearing mechanical arms, colloquially known as \u201cchopsticks.\u201d The engines switched off, leaving the booster suspended perhaps 200 feet above the ground.<\/p>\n