SpaceX’s successful Starship flight grabbed by giant mech arms (Image Credit: Mashable)
Mechazilla has caught the Super Heavy booster! pic.twitter.com/6R5YatSVJX
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) October 13, 2024
“By continuing to push our hardware in a flight environment, and doing so as safely and frequently as possible,” SpaceX wrote on X, “we’ll rapidly bring Starship online and revolutionize humanity’s ability to access space.”
The return also featured deafening sonic booms, hot pink plasma, and live views of space via Starlink internet satellites.
By 9:30 a.m. ET, the Starship practiced its “bellyflop” landing maneuver, which involves a horizontal free fall and a quick vertical reorientation to control its descent. A few minutes later it was back earth-side, making a dramatic planned splashdown in the Indian Ocean — the company is not likely to recover the ship from the water.
Splashdown confirmed! Congratulations to the entire SpaceX team on an exciting fifth flight test of Starship! pic.twitter.com/FhCGznq9RO
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) October 13, 2024
SpaceX’s success today comes amid a history of failed attempts and larger criticism of its “move fast, break things” ethos. Following a less showy third flight that saw the ship destroyed in its journey back to Earth, June’s fourth Starship test launch experimented with a more controlled, soft booster landing in the water and more practice of the “bellyflopping” descent, which Musk likens to “skydiving.”
NASA plans to utilize the Starship rocket system to ferry astronauts on its Artemis III and IV missions, under a $4.2 billion contract with the Musk company.
