‘Almost magic’ as SpaceX craft caught mid-air: Why it matters
Summary
SpaceX caught the upper stage of its Starship rocket with mechanical arms at its Starbase site in Texas after a 22.5-hour flight around Earth. The successful return marks the first midair catch of a spacecraft’s upper stage and advances SpaceX’s effort to make the rocket fully reusable.Key Facts
- Starship is 124 metres (407 feet) tall and is designed for travel to the Moon and Mars.
- The spacecraft orbited Earth 14 times before returning to Starbase.
- Starship flipped upright and descended into the arms of the Mechazilla launch tower while its engines were running.
- SpaceX has previously caught Starship’s rocket boosters, but this was its first successful catch of the spacecraft’s upper stage.
- Elon Musk and SpaceX engineers inspected the spacecraft after the catch and said it appeared to have worked well, including its heat shield.
- NASA plans to use Starship to land astronauts on the Moon later this decade and welcomed the successful catch.
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