SpaceX succeeds for the first time in capturing Starship vehicle

Elon Musk’s SpaceX successfully recovered a spacecraft at its launch pad for the first time, as Starship returned safely to Starbase in Texas the day before yesterday after spending about a day in orbit. The vehicle emerged from the clouds as it crossed the continent on its descent path, coming to rest vertically between two robotic arms above Launch Complex 2. The success of the operation marks a milestone in the space sector’s decades-long efforts to develop fully reusable rocket systems, which could significantly reduce mission costs and enable higher launch rates. SpaceX spokesperson Dan Huot said, “This long-desired achievement in spaceflight—having the vehicle descend amid flames and be caught by steel arms from the air—we caught Starship, and now everything will change.” Crowds gathered on the shores of the Gulf of Mexico near Starbase cheered as the vehicle settled between the robotic arms, during the fifteenth test flight of the world’s largest and most powerful rocket system. Starship, which shares its name with the rocket system, completed 14 orbits around Earth and deployed 26 satellites for Musk’s Starlink internet constellation during its 22-hour flight. The vehicle-capture operation was more complex than catching the rocket’s booster, which SpaceX had previously recovered three times, as Starship descended from a much higher altitude and at a much greater speed. Jesse Anderson, an official on the Starship program, said before the operation that its success would demonstrate that an orbital launch vehicle can be fully recovered at its launch pad. SpaceX engineers plotted the return trajectory, with the vehicle passing over sparsely populated desert areas and several towns before executing a wide turn around the Rio Grande Valley cities in Texas and approaching the landing site from the east. Musk, the world’s richest person, has transformed the space industry with its partially reusable Falcon rockets, which are routinely used to launch satellites and transport astronauts to the International Space Station.