SpaceX's Starship spacecraft landed in the Indian Ocean just over an hour after launching at 8:25 a.m. ET from south Texas. Almost seven minutes after takeoff, the Super Heavy booster returned to its launch pad, where the launch tower was located. i caught it using arms that SpaceX has dubbed “chopsticks.”
This remarkable capture was a first for SpaceX and an important step toward making the Super Heavy booster a fully reusable launch system, just like SpaceX's Falcon 9 rockets. The booster completed a series of maneuvers similar to today's during its previous flight test in June, when it landed in the Gulf of Mexico.
Today's flight test, which was delayed 25 minutes while SpaceX waited for the ships to be cleared from its launch range, marks Starship's second full launch, flight and return to Earth. The spacecraft re-entered Earth's atmosphere about 45 minutes after takeoff and performed a “soft” splashdown in the Indian Ocean at 9:30 a.m. ET. An explosion rocked the ship right after that.
SpaceX redesigned Starship's heat shield for this test after Starship lost fragments of its armor during reentry in June. The company used new thermal protection plates and added an additional backing ablative layer, such as x.com/SpaceX”>ArsTechnica described last week.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) gave approval to SpaceX for the test flight x.com/SpaceX”>only yesterday. This launch was initially expected to be cleared next month, but the FAA and its partner agencies have reportedly conducted their assessments of SpaceX's preparations. faster than expected.
Update October 13: Updated to reflect that Starship landed in the Indian Ocean.
