SpaceX: the 1st stage of Starship recovered during its 5th flight, an unprecedented feat
On Sunday October 13, 2024, SpaceX reached a new historic milestone in the conquest of space by successfully recovering the first stage of its Starship launcher in mid-flight for the first time. This technological approach marks a major turning point for Elon Musk’s company, which aims to make spaceflight fully reusable.
During this fifth flight, the Super Heavy launcher, measuring 110 meters high, was captured by “Mechazilla”, a giant articulated arm located on the launch pad, after propelling the rocket for 2 minutes and 40 seconds. Unlike previous flights, where the stages ended their journey in the ocean, this recovery successfully paves the way for rapid reuse of the launchers, thus reducing costs and increasing the frequency of missions.
This feat is a decisive step forward for SpaceX, particularly in view of its next missions to the Moon and Mars. Starship, selected by NASA as part of the Human Landing System (HLS) program, will play a key role in future lunar missions planned for 2025. The company’s next goal is to perform a controlled water landing of the entire spacecraft during the sixth flight, scheduled before the end of the year.
With this new success, SpaceX is getting a little closer to its dream of regular and reusable spaceflight.