SpaceX, Elon Musk's company, achieved a real milestone in its most recent test flight, in Boca Chica the super heavy booster was captured by its own launch tower and a meticulous and unprecedented operation just after completing its mission to launch the second stage from the starship into orbit.
And what a scene, friends, the colossal 120-meter-high rocket powered by 33 methane-fueled raptor engines rising into the Texan sky, illuminating everything with its trail of fire. You can see this in its entirety with sound and everything in the video below. , so adjust the volume of your device.
This was SpaceX's fifth attempt with the StarShip and what was a very high-risk operation became a memorable spectacle, but the most impressive thing was to come just over 2 minutes after the launch the super heavyweight performed a lid separation on full flight, something known as hot cap separation.
Instead of turning off its engines, it kept only three of them active to allow the second stage, the StarShip, to continue its orbital path, meanwhile the first stage, the super heavy, began its descent back to Earth and it was here where the magic happened. Using pure technology, SpaceX guided the super heavyweight back to its launch tower called Mechazilla, a structure equipped with gigantic mechanical arms.
This capture was more than just a maneuver, it was a monumental milestone on the path to creating fully reusable rockets. Unlike previous space programs that relied on spatially expendable rockets, SpaceX is one step closer to its goal of rapid launches. and efficient, meanwhile the second stage of the StarShip continued its trajectory towards space, making a controlled landing in the Indian Ocean approximately one hour after launch.
This apparently modest landing was also crucial in allowing SpaceX engineers to test improvements to the ship's heat shield during reentry ensuring future missions to the Moon or Mars are safe and efficient.
The most incredible thing is that both stages, both the super heavy and the starship, are completely reusable, the super heavy returns to its launch pad while the StarShip can travel beyond Earth's orbit and land in a controlled manner anywhere, whether on earth the moon or Mars.
Now the next big challenge for SpaceX will be to capture not only the super heavy but also the second stage of the StarShip with the same launch tower, when this is successful the era of reusable rockets with incredibly short response times between launches will become in a reality and the future of space travel could change forever.
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