SpaceX will try catching Starship and its booster next month
What's the story
SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has announced that the company will attempt to catch Starship and its Super Heavy booster next month. The ambitious plan aims at recovering the entire orbital launch system for the first time in history. "This is a profound technology milestone in the history of civilization consciousness," Musk said during SpaceX's third-quarter earnings report on Tuesday. SpaceX has yet to announce the date and time for the next Starship test flight.
Optimism
Musk hopeful about success despite acknowledging possibility of failure
While acknowledging the possibility of failure, Musk is hopeful about the success of this mission.
"Success is not guaranteed on these first flights, but I'd say it's more likely than not that this succeeds next flight," he said.
If successful, it would mark a major breakthrough in space exploration technology and open new avenues for future missions beyond Earth.
Recovery plan
What is the Starship system?
The Starship system is a two-stage vehicle, including the Super Heavy booster and the Starship spacecraft.
It stands about 120m tall with a diameter of 9m and is powered by SpaceX's Raptor engines.
Unlike Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy rockets, which are partially reusable, both stages of Starship are designed to be fully and rapidly reusable.
The recovery strategy involves steering them back to their launch tower where they will be caught mid-air with mechanical "chopstick" arms.