SpaceX launches mega Starship rocket in successful test flight

SpaceX has conducted the boldest test flight of its size yet Spaceship rocket on Sunday, catching the returning carrier with mechanical arms at the launch pad.

A jubilant Elon Musk called it “science fiction without the fictional part.”

At nearly 400 feet (121 meters) high, the empty spacecraft launched at sunrise from the southern tip of Texas near the Mexican border. Like the four spaceships before it, it flew in an arc over the Gulf of Mexico was eventually destroyedeither shortly after take-off or when ditching in the sea. The previous one in June had been the most successful until the demo on Sunday, complete its flight without exploding.

This time, Musk, CEO and founder of SpaceX, has upped the challenge for the rocket he plans to use to send people back to the moon and on to Mars.

At the flight director's command, the first stage booster flew back to the launch pad where it had launched seven minutes earlier. The launch tower's monstrous metal arms, called rods, caught the descending 232-foot (71-meter) stainless steel booster, holding it in place and dangling it far above the ground.

“The tower caught the rocket!!!” Musk announced via

The company's employees shouted with joy, jumping to their feet and pumping their fists in the air. NASA joined in the celebration and Administrator Bill Nelson sent congratulations.

Continued spacecraft testing would prepare the country for landing astronauts at the moon's south pole, Nelson noted. NASA's new Artemis program is the continuation of Apollo, which put 12 people on the moon more than half a century ago.

“Folks, this is a day for the technology history books,” said SpaceX engineering manager Kate Tice from SpaceX headquarters in Hawthorne, California.

“Even today, what we just saw is magical,” company spokesman Dan Huot added near the takeoff and landing site. “I’m shaking right now.”

It was up to the flight director to decide in real time using manual controls whether to attempt the landing. SpaceX said that both the launch vehicle and the launch tower must be in good and stable condition. Otherwise it would end up in the Gulf like the previous ones. Everything was considered ready for fishing.

Once the empty, retro-looking spaceship was freed from the launch vehicle, it continued flying around the world. An hour later, the controlled landing in the Indian Ocean was successful, which further increased the success of the day. Cameras on a nearby buoy showed flames shooting out of the water as the booster hit exactly the target spot and sank as planned.

“What a day,” Huot said. “Let’s get ready for the next one.”

The June flight ultimately failed because parts came loose. SpaceX updated the software and reworked the heat shield, improving the thermal tiles.

SpaceX has been recovering the first stage boosters of its smaller Falcon 9 rockets for nine years after putting satellites and crews into orbit from Florida or California. But they land on floating ocean platforms or on concrete slabs several miles from their launch pads – not on them.

Recycling Falcon boosters has sped up the launch rate and saved SpaceX millions. Musk intends to do the same for Starship, the largest and most powerful rocket ever built with 33 methane fuel engines on the launch vehicle alone.

Musk said the captured Starship booster appeared to be in good condition, with some of the outer engines only slightly warped due to heat and aerodynamic forces. This is easily remedied, he noted.

NASA has ordered two spacecraft to land astronauts on the moon later this decade. SpaceX intends to use Starship to send people and supplies to the moon and eventually Mars.

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