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In a landmark moment for space exploration, SpaceX on Saturday (local time) made history by successfully bringing its Starship spacecraft back from orbit and catching it upright in the mechanical arms of its launch tower, an unprecedented manoeuvre that could reshape the future of rocket reusability.
The achievement marks the first time an orbital rocket's upper stage has returned from space and made a controlled and upright landing at its launch site, with the giant mechanical arms of SpaceX's launch tower, nicknamed 'Mechazilla', catching the spacecraft during its descent. Celebrating the achievement, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk congratulated the engineers and teams behind the mission, acknowledging their efforts in making what appeared to be a science-fiction-like spectacle a reality. "Congratulations to an incredible team at SpaceX!!!" Musk said in a post on X. NASA administrator Jared Isaacman also congratulated Musk and the SpaceX team, describing the achievement as an almost magical moment that could bring more people closer to believing in the possibilities of space exploration. "Congrats to Elon Musk and the SpaceX team! It was almost magic..Making more believers by the day...one step closer to the moon," Isaacman said in a post on X. SpaceX also celebrated the historic manoeuvre, highlighting the successful catch of Starship by its giant launch tower. "Mechazilla catches Starship! Congratulations to the entire SpaceX team on this incredible achievement!" the company said in a post on X. According to SpaceX, Starship lifted off from Starbase in Texas on Friday for its 15th flight and returned to the same facility today, completing a mission that included reaching orbit, deploying satellites and executing a controlled return to Earth. In its mission statement, SpaceX said the Super Heavy booster initially ascended from Pad 2 under the power of 33 Raptor engines, before Starship separated through a hot-staging manoeuvre and continued its journey towards space using six Raptor engines. The Super Heavy booster subsequently performed its directional flip and reignited 32 of its planned 33 Raptor engines for the boostback burn. However, the burn ended earlier than planned because of low fuel mass, with the root cause under investigation, the company said. The booster then diverted to an offshore landing location following an automated abort triggered by its guidance, navigation and control system. It successfully performed its landing burn over the Gulf before its flight termination system was activated. Meanwhile, Starship completed its ascent and entered orbit before deploying 26 Starlink V3 satellites. SpaceX said contact was established with all the satellites shortly after deployment as the spacecraft began raising their orbits to join the Starlink constellation. Following the deployment, Starship remained in orbit for more than 20 hours while SpaceX's flight control team monitored its systems and prepared for its return. The spacecraft subsequently reignited a single Raptor sea-level engine to perform a deorbit burn, beginning its descent through Earth's atmosphere towards Starbase. Describing the final phase of the mission, SpaceX said Starship navigated back towards the Texas coast, performed a final manoeuvre over the Gulf and approached the same launch site from which it had departed approximately 22.5 hours earlier. After emerging from the clouds, three Raptor engines ignited to execute the landing flip and slow descent, bringing the spacecraft into the waiting mechanical arms of Mechazilla. The successful catch represents a significant milestone in SpaceX's long-standing effort to make rockets fully reusable, moving beyond the company's existing achievements in recovering and reusing first-stage boosters. Unlike conventional rocket operations, in which upper stages are generally discarded after completing their missions, SpaceX aims to bring both stages of its Starship launch system back for recovery and potential reuse. The successful manoeuvre could pave the way for the recovery and reuse of the spacecraft's upper stage, potentially reducing the need to discard expensive rocket hardware after every mission. (ANI)
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