TEXAS: Elon Musk’s SpaceX successfully caught its returning Starship spacecraft with mechanical launch tower arms on Saturday, completing the first such recovery after a 22-hour orbital mission.
The spacecraft descended through Earth’s atmosphere before approaching Launch Pad 2 at SpaceX’s Starbase facility in southern Texas.
Giant mechanical arms, known as Mechazilla or chopsticks, captured the vehicle as it returned to the launch site. SpaceX spokesman Dan Huot celebrated the achievement. “We caught a Starship, and now, everything changes,” he said.
The recovery followed Starship’s 15th test flight, during which the spacecraft completed 14 orbits around Earth and deployed 26 satellites for SpaceX’s Starlink network.
SpaceX had previously caught returning Super Heavy boosters three times. However, recovering the spacecraft itself presented a different challenge because of its higher re-entry speed and altitude.
The successful SpaceX Starship catch demonstrated a recovery method that could support the company’s plans for a fully reusable launch system.
Elon Musk shared videos of the recovered spacecraft on X and said it looked good. NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman welcomed the result, calling the recovery “almost magic”.
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Clayton Swope, an aerospace expert at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies, described the mission as a major technical achievement.
However, Georgetown University researcher Kathleen Curlee cautioned that SpaceX would need repeated successful recoveries before demonstrating reliability for sensitive missions.
SpaceX intends to use different Starship configurations for satellite deployment and future missions carrying people to the Moon and Mars.
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NASA expects the spacecraft to serve as a lunar lander under its Artemis programme. The company still faces significant engineering challenges, particularly transferring fuel between spacecraft in orbit.
Its latest Super Heavy booster also experienced technical problems during Friday’s descent, preventing the planned tower recovery.
SpaceX officials said the Starbase factory could produce one Starship spacecraft every two weeks and a booster every four weeks.
With additional input from AFP and Fox Business
