SpaceX shows unprecedented way to capture rocket in next launch; look

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

Starship, a rocket measuring almost 120 meters high, is considered the most powerful in the world and was built with the aim of one day taking astronauts to the Moon via NASA, and, if everything goes well, humans to Mars. The entire set is made up of the Starship spacecraft and the Super Heavy booster, the 71-meter-high propellant.

In a post on its official profile on Look:

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

— SpaceX (@SpaceX) June 27, 2024

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

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

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 6, 2024

What were previous Starship launch tests like?

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 to be recovered and reused for future tests and flights. Despite this, the Starship set crashed over the Indian Ocean after more than an hour of flight.

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

The second Starship flight carried out by SpaceX took place in November 2023, but a failure caused engineers to lose contact with the ship in space. The first test, in April of the same year, also had problems, ending in an explosion.