On Sunday, SpaceX achieved a major engineering milestone during its fifth Starship test flight, successfully landing the rocket’s first stage “Super Heavy” booster back on its launch pad using giant mechanical arms. This feat marks another step toward developing a fully reusable rocket system designed for missions to the Moon, Mars, and beyond.
The test began with the Super Heavy booster lifting off from SpaceX’s Boca Chica, Texas facilities at 7:25 a.m. CT (1225 GMT), propelling the Starship second stage rocket into space. After separating at an altitude of roughly 70 kilometers (40 miles), the booster began its daring return journey to land. It reignited three of its 33 Raptor engines to slow its descent, steering itself back to the launch tower using grid fins.
The tower, standing over 400 feet tall, is equipped with two massive arms, which successfully caught the 233-foot-tall (71 meters) booster as it descended. SpaceX CEO Elon Musk celebrated the event, announcing on X (formerly Twitter), “The tower has caught the rocket!!” The catch marks a significant achievement in SpaceX’s quest to perfect the reusability of its rocket systems.
While the Super Heavy booster landed back on its launch pad, the Starship second stage continued on its path toward the Indian Ocean. The vehicle re-entered Earth’s atmosphere at hypersonic speeds, with onboard cameras capturing its re-entry, glowing from the intense heat. Starship successfully executed a controlled splashdown near Australia, but the vessel later exploded after toppling into the water. The cause of the explosion remains unclear, though it could have been a controlled detonation or the result of a fuel leak.
This mission follows SpaceX’s June test flight, when Starship completed a full journey but suffered damage upon re-entry. Improvements in the rocket’s heat-shielding tiles were evident this time, with the craft maintaining better integrity during re-entry.
SpaceX’s test-to-failure approach continues to drive progress in developing Starship, which is envisioned as the rocket to carry humans to Mars and support future NASA lunar missions. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) granted SpaceX the necessary launch approval for this test, amid ongoing discussions about the regulatory pace and issues related to the company’s other rocket, the Falcon 9.
The successful booster catch and the progression of Starship’s development bring SpaceX closer to realizing Musk’s vision of interplanetary travel and a reusable rocket capable of revolutionizing space exploration.