SpaceX’s Starship returns to launch pad from orbit for first time

Detailed summary

SpaceX officials stated that Saturday’s catch proves the total reusability of Starship, which is intended for lunar and Martian travel

Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Start your Independent Membership today.

SpaceX’s bullet-shaped, stainless steel Starship returned to Earth on Saturday, captured in midair by giant mechanical arms at the launch pad 22 hours after its journey began.

The recovery delivered the grand finale sought by Elon Musk and his team, marking the first time a Starship returning from space has been caught.

However, the company missed its target of a double catch after the first-stage booster exploded shortly after liftoff from Texas on Friday, leaving debris cordoned off by buoys in the Gulf of Mexico.

The sci-fi-like capture helped overshadow the failure of the booster recovery.

SpaceX officials stated that Saturday’s catch proves the total reusability of Starship, which is intended for lunar and Martian travel. Although Friday’s booster recovery was unsuccessful, the firm had already logged three successful booster catches, validating the technique.

NASA welcomed the achievement. The space agency is investing billions of dollars for Starship to land Artemis astronauts on the moon later this decade and assist in constructing a permanent lunar base. Musk’s wider ambitions involve launching a fleet of Starships to establish a city on Mars.

The world’s largest and most powerful rocket — a 407-foot (124-meter) behemoth — blasted off late Friday afternoon from SpaceX’s Starship base near the U.S.-Mexican border.

Neatly from its booster before things went awry, the upper-stage spacecraft soared into orbit and released 26 advanced Starlink satellites.

Opening of the article, excerpted from The Independent. To read the rest, open the article on the publisher's site.