SpaceX achieves unprecedented feat and grabs descending rocket with mechanical arms

In one of the most dramatic and risky space flights of all time, SpaceX launched a gigantic Super Heavy Starship rocket on Sunday for an unmanned test flight, then used giant mechanical “Mechazilla” arms on the launch pad to lift the descending first stage out of the sky as the High school went further into space.

The spectacular shot of pincer-like arms, better known as chopsticks, marked a new milestone in SpaceX's push to develop fully reusable, rapidly restartable rockets. It is a technological feat unparalleled in the history of previous space programs based on expendable rockets.

The 397-foot-tall rocket lifted off at 8:25 a.m. EDT from the SpaceX flight facility in Boca Chica, Texas, on the Texas Gulf Coast, delivering a spectacular sunrise spectacle as the launch vehicle's 33 methane-burning Raptor engines ignited with a ground igniter. trembling roars and a stream of burning fumes.

Three minutes and 40 seconds after launch, the Super Heavy carrier dropped away, turned around and restarted 13 Raptors to reverse course and fly back to the Texas coast, while the spacecraft's upper stage powered up using the power of its six Raptor engines continued their ascent into space.

The booster's flight computer was programmed to steer the stage to a water outlet in the Gulf of Mexico if problems arose with the rocket or the launch pad's capture mechanism.

However, no such problems were encountered and the Super Heavy continued toward its launch pad, descending and then slowing until it hovered between the two mechanical arms, which then moved in to grab the rocket as theirs Engines switched off. SpaceX employees at the company's headquarters in Hawthorne, California, erupted in cheers and applause.

The remarkable capture, a key element in SpaceX founder Elon Musk's push to achieve “rapid reusability,” came as the spacecraft's upper stage was still en route to space, landing in the Indian Ocean for a landing on land or eventually to simulate on the moon or Mars. Waterfall was expected one hour and five minutes after takeoff.

During the rocket's fourth test flight in June, extreme temperatures caused significant damage to the spacecraft's protective tiles and control fins. Several upgrades and improvements were made for Sunday's flight to eliminate or minimize such re-entry damage.

The two-stage Super heavy spaceshipcollectively known as Starship, is the world's largest and most powerful rocket, with twice the launch thrust of NASA's iconic Saturn 5 and nearly twice the power of the agency's new Space Launch System lunar rocket.

The 30-foot-wide Super Heavy first stage is loaded with 6.8 million pounds of liquid oxygen and methane propellants, stands 230 feet tall and is powered by 33 SpaceX-developed Raptor engines producing up to 16 million pounds of thrust. The spacecraft's upper stage is 160 feet long and carries 2.6 million pounds of fuel to power an additional six Raptors.

Both stages are designed to be completely reusable. The Super Heavy flies independently back to its launch pad while the spacecraft travels to and from Earth orbit, to the Moon or ultimately to Mars. The spacecraft is designed to touch down vertically at landing sites on Earth and beyond using its own rocket power.

However, the main goal of Sunday's flight was to demonstrate the ability to capture returning Super Heavy boosters on the launch pad, where they can be quickly overhauled, refueled and restarted.

SpaceX thus perfected the first stage landings Workhorse Falcon 9 rocketsSo far, 352 such launchers with powered landings on landing pads or offshore drone ships have been successfully recovered. The smaller first stages of the Falcon 9 land independently and deploy four landing legs a few seconds before touchdown.

Snatching the 230-foot-tall Super Heavy out of the sky with mechanical arms as the rocket descends and hovers right next to its launch portal seemed like a far-fetched idea when it was first proposed during the launch vehicle's initial development.

But SpaceX engineers “spent years of preparation and months of testing for the booster capture test, with technicians investing tens of thousands of hours building the infrastructure to maximize our chances of success,” the company said on its website.

“As each flight builds on the lessons learned from the last and tests improvements in hardware and operations across all aspects of Starship, we are on the verge of demonstrating techniques fundamental to Starship’s fully and rapidly reusable design,” it continued company continues.

SpaceX has signed a contract with NASA to supply a modified spacecraft to carry astronauts to landings near the moon's south pole as part of the agency's Artemis program.

To get a Starship lander to the moon, SpaceX must first place it in low-Earth orbit and then launch several Super Heavy Starship “tankers” to refuel the moon-bound spacecraft for the trip to lunar orbit.

The astronauts will launch on NASA's Space Launch System rocket and fly to the moon aboard an Orion capsule built by Lockheed Martin. The crew will transfer to the waiting spacecraft for descent to the lunar surface. NASA hopes to send the first woman and next man to the moon after an unmanned lunar landing of the spacecraft in 2027-28.

Rapid reusability is a key element of the program given the number of Super Heavy spacecraft needed for a single lunar landing. While Sunday's test flight appeared to go smoothly, multiple flights will be required to perfect the system and demonstrate the reliability needed to transport astronauts.

How long that might take is an open question.

In recent weeks, Musk has posted a broadside against the Federal Aviation Administration on social media, complaining that the agency's bureaucracy is taking too long to review and approve launch licenses and, in fact, is stifling innovation and development of the new rocket system slow down.

The FAA only gave approval for Sunday's test flight the day before. But this time the license included several test flights with roughly the same flight plan.