SpaceX has achieved the feat of recovering the Super Heavy stage of its Starship rocket using mechanical arms, as part of its reuse strategy to reduce launch costs. A risky and unprecedented feat.
A feat that will go down in history. This Sunday, October 13, from Texas, in the United States, SpaceX managed to recover the Super Heavy stage of its Starship rocket using mechanical arms. This test, essential to reduce costs and speed up missions, was closely followed by NASA.
SpaceX, led by Elon Musk, is developing Starship for ambitious missions, including the colonization of Mars. NASA was also watching this development closely, as it plans to use this spacecraft to return astronauts to the Moon.
The fifth Starship test flight was carried out from the Starbase space station in Texas. This giant rocket, the most powerful ever designed, measures 120 meters high, including 70 meters for the Super Heavy stage alone.
A complex and impressive feat
During the last test of the Starship rocket on October 13, even before the Super Heavy stage touched the ground, mechanical arms, nicknamed “the wands”, closed to immobilize this part of the device. This recovery process aims to make launches faster and less expensive.
Until now, the Super Heavy stage detached from the rocket after propelling it, ending its journey in the sea. This time, SpaceX managed to recover it by returning it to its launch pad seven minutes after the launch. takeoff.
The “wands” seized the floor before it hit the ground, in an extremely complex maneuver, the result of several years of preparation. If the attempt had failed, the stage would have landed in the Gulf of Mexico, while the Starship would have continued its flight for a planned landing in the Indian Ocean.
SpaceX held back by FAA bureaucracy
SpaceX engineers had to improve the rocket after encountering problems during previous flights. Elon Musk had also expressed his annoyance at the slowness of the FAA, the American authority which regulates launches, accusing these delays of hampering his schedule.
Furthermore, SpaceX faces criticism regarding its environmental impact. At each launch, a flood of water is used to limit acoustic vibrations from the engines, but this method is problematic.
The first flight in April 2023 caused damage to the launch pad and the dispersion of debris, raising concern among environmental associations about the potential damage to local species living near the base.
