SpaceX shows unprecedented way to capture rocket on next launch; see

SpaceX, a space travel and transportation company led by Elon Musk prepares for the fifth rocket launch test Starship and, according to a post on social media, intends to “capture” the booster Super Heavy which gives propulsion to the vehicle, in the “air”, that is, avoiding landing on the ground.

The Starship, a rocket measuring almost 120 meters in height, is considered the most powerful in the world and was built with the goal of one day taking astronauts to the Moon by NASA, and, if all goes well, humans to Mars. The entire complex consists of the Starship spacecraft and the Super Heavy booster, the 71-meter-tall propellant.

In a post on its official X profile (formerly Twitter), SpaceX released a video showing how the Starship booster should be captured by the launch tower “in the air”, in order to avoid major problems when landing on the ground. Watch:

Returning the booster after launch is a core capability to Starship becoming rapidly and reliably reusable pic.twitter.com/j4NSdnNiKr

— SpaceX (@SpaceX) June 27, 2024

Businessman Elon Musk, in turn, said that the fifth test flight of Starship should take place within four weeks.

Flight 5 in 4 weeks https://t.co/K7pfdujrqx

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 6, 2024

How Starship’s previous launch tests went

Starship’s fourth test flight took place in June this year and was the most successful yet. For the first time, the Super Heavy booster made a soft landing so it could be recovered and reused for future tests and flights. Despite this, the Starship assembly splashed down over the Indian Ocean more than an hour into the flight.

The third Starship test, carried out on March 14 this year, showed progress after remaining in Earth’s orbit for about an hour, but upon returning to the atmosphere, the live broadcast of the test announced that contact with the rocket had been lost.

SpaceX’s second Starship flight took place in November 2023, but a failure caused engineers to lose contact with the craft in space. The first test, in April of the same year, also ran into problems, ending in an explosion.