SpaceX Launches Starship Mega-Rocket and Catches Its Booster in Midair on First Try
The success is a giant leap toward the company’s goal to take humans and cargo all the way to Mars on the world’s biggest and most powerful launch vehicle
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At 8:25 a.m. Eastern time on Sunday, SpaceX’s massive Starship rocket and spacecraft lifted off from Boca Chica, Texas. At an altitude of 40 miles, the first stage booster, called Super Heavy, separated from the uncrewed Starship and its second stage rocket, then headed back toward Earth to attempt an unprecedented stunt.
The 233-foot booster re-lit three engines to slow its descent, and roughly seven minutes after launch, it was caught in midair by two giant metal arms dubbed “chopsticks” on the launch tower, called “Mechazilla.”
“The tower has caught the rocket!!” Elon Musk, SpaceX’s CEO and founder, announced on X. In response to another post about the achievement, he commented that the company had done “science fiction without the fiction part.”
Super Heavy landing burn and catch pic.twitter.com/wppBezuOet
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) October 14, 2024
“Thousands of distinct vehicle and pad criteria had to be met prior to the catch attempt, and thanks to the tireless work of SpaceX engineers, we succeeded with catch on our first attempt,” reads a statement from the company.
The first-of-its-kind engineering feat marks a significant step toward SpaceX’s goal of building a fully reusable long-haul spacecraft to take people and cargo—including the necessary materials to build space colonies—to Earth orbit, the moon and Mars.
“Reusability is the future of launch. We are encouraged by seeing SpaceX demonstrate Starship’s reusable design as they move toward eventual commercial operation,” says American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics CEO Clay Mowry in a statement.
Starship is the world’s most powerful launch vehicle ever developed, and it has a capacity for up to 100 passengers. SpaceX plans to test a method to refill Starship's propellant tanks in orbit, which would allow the vehicle to reach even greater distances in space.
Even rockets need hugs pic.twitter.com/oF36F0AvBf
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 14, 2024
Sunday’s launch was Starship’s fifth uncrewed test flight and first catch attempt since the craft was first unveiled in 2017, per Reuters’ Joey Roulette. During the first two tests, the rocket exploded before reaching orbit. It reached space on the third launch but broke apart on re-entry. And after the fourth flight, which took place in June, the booster and spacecraft splashed down successfully in the Gulf of Mexico.
For the most recent test, SpaceX attempted the difficult catch maneuver for the first time.
“This is a day for the engineering history books,” Kate Tice, SpaceX manager of quality systems engineering, said during live coverage of the launch, per Space.com’s Mike Wall. “This is absolutely insane! On the first-ever attempt, we have successfully caught the Super Heavy booster back at the launch tower.”
As for the rest of the spacecraft, the 165-foot-tall Starship upper stage flew to the other side of the planet at 17,000 miles per hour, per the Guardian’s Ian Sample, and conducted a controlled re-entry, splashing down in the Indian Ocean about one hour and five minutes after launch, according to plan.
While Starship’s ultimate destination is Mars, the more immediate aim—with $4 billion in funding from NASA—is taking astronauts to the moon in the space agency’s upcoming Artemis 3 mission scheduled for launch no sooner than 2026, per the New York Times’ Kenneth Chang and Eric Lipton.
To achieve this goal, Musk envisions more frequent launches, per the New York Times. His determination, however, might run into issues with the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration’s lengthy approval times, which caused delays in this most recent test launch.
Previously, the flight was potentially going to be delayed until November, due to an environmental analysis and sonic boom analysis. The company has faced pushback from environmentalists, as its launch site is surrounded by a federal wildlife refuge and state park that support birds, sea turtles and other animals, reports NPR’s Geoff Brumfiel. Past launches have led to fires, leaks and pollution in the surrounding habitat, per the New York Times’ Eric Lipton.
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