Successful bet. SpaceX managed, on Sunday, October 13, during a spectacular maneuver, to reach the first stage of its Starship megarocket during a test flight. A first that could represent a decisive step towards the reuse of this heavy launcher.
“Mechazilla has taken the Super Heavy booster!” »the company enthuses on its X account after a flight of about nine minutes, in reference to the nickname of its launch tower.
The two stages of the rocket, the largest and most powerful in the world, at the end of its development must be recovered and reused after each flight. A strategy aimed at being able to launch more machines more quickly and for much less money.
Billionaire Elon Musk’s company intends to use Starship to colonize Mars. The development of the spacecraft is also closely followed by NASA, which is counting on it to take its astronauts back to the surface of the Moon.
The takeoff of this fifth Starship test flight occurred at 7:25 a.m. local time (2:25 p.m. Paris time) from the company’s Starbase space base, in the southern tip of Texas, United States.
The rocket consists of the Super Heavy first stage and, above it, the Starship, which by extension gives its name to the entire launcher. The Super Heavy alone measures about 70 meters high (the complete rocket measures 120).
During each flight, Super Heavy detaches itself from the ship after propelling it using its 33 powerful engines. Until now it was going to end its journey at sea, but SpaceX managed this time to return it to its launch pad, from the first attempt of this delicate maneuver, about nine minutes after takeoff.
Before the Super Heavy stage could touch the ground, mechanical arms, nicknamed “the chopsticks”He approached him and immobilized him, we could see in the SpaceX video.
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“SpaceX engineers spent years preparing for the capture attempt”the company wrote before the launch. “Tens of thousands of hours” were dedicated by the technicians “establish the necessary infrastructure to maximize our chances of success”he added.
Risky maneuver
For its part, the Starship will continue its flight until landing in the Indian Ocean. For the first time it successfully landed in this ocean during the previous test flight four months ago.
Images transmitted live by cameras on board the spacecraft showed a layer of orange plasma when it returned from space, due to friction with the atmosphere. The pieces had broken under the pressure. SpaceX has since said it has carried out “a complete heat shield overhaul” of the boat, by placing tiles “new generation”.
Controversies
SpaceX is intensively developing the Starship, launching unloaded prototypes to quickly correct problems found in real flight situations.
In recent weeks, the company has openly complained about the slowness of the American aviation regulator (FAA), responsible for flight authorizations. “It takes more time to complete the paperwork needed to obtain a license to launch a rocket than it does to design and build the hardware itself.”the company took offense in a lengthy and unusual press release in September.
Elon Musk, who has shifted to the right over the years and is now apparently supporting Donald Trump in the November 5 presidential election, had called for the FAA chief to resign.
SpaceX is also fighting accusations of environmental pollution, particularly related to the deluge of water that is dumped during each Starship launch when the engines are fired, to attenuate sound waves and thus limit vibrations. This system was added after the first test flight, in April 2023, destroyed part of the launch pad under the force of takeoff, catapulting debris and a cloud of dust.
Several environmental associations denounce the damage caused by SpaceX operations to animal species, since the space base is installed right next to a protected reserve.
