Elon Musk's company SpaceX conducted its latest flight test of the Starship transportation system, marking the fifth test in total. The system consists of a 71-meter first stage, Super Heavy, and a 50-meter spacecraft, Starship. This is the most powerful rocket system in the world, which is expected to transport humans to the Moon and Mars in the future.
The launch took place from the company's facility in Boca Chica, located in southern Texas, at 8:25 AM local time.
During the tests, for the first time, the first stage of the rocket was captured by the mechanized claw Mechazilla — as reported on the Naked Science website, “an unprecedented event in the history of rocketry.” The highly technical achievement of capturing the 71-meter Super Heavy stage “eliminates the need for landing legs that were present on the Falcon 9, which consumed part of the payload capacity,” the authors of the article note.
Typically, first-stage boosters of rockets detach from the spacecraft after completing their function and fall to the ground, or more precisely, into the ocean. This time, the stage was equipped with an additional engine that brought it back to the launch site, while the launch towers “caught” Super Heavy with special clamps.
In simpler terms, what exactly happened was explained by the author of the Telegram channel “Powerless Stonemasons”: “They (SpaceX) launched a super heavy rocket into space (more powerful than the Saturn V, which launched lunar missions), and the first stage landed back, precisely (very accurately — F) back on the launch pad. In the future, they plan to reuse these first stages.” The ability to return and relaunch rockets is a key part of SpaceX's strategy to lower the costs of space missions.
Judging by the video, the lower part of the stage caught fire during the capture but quickly extinguished.
After Super Heavy returned to Earth, the Starship spacecraft continued its flight. Ultimately, it splashed down at a predetermined point in the Indian Ocean more than an hour after launch.