Fact Checked by 
Elon Musk’s SpaceX has achieved a groundbreaking milestone by successfully landing a section of its Starship back on its launch pad for the first time. This brings the company significantly closer to realizing its goal of creating a fully reusable and rapidly deployable rocket system.
The Starship, the largest and most powerful rocket ever built at 400 feet (122 meters) tall, was launched for the fifth time on Sunday (Oct. 13), from SpaceX’s Starbase in South Texas. In a major achievement, the rocket’s massive first-stage booster, known as Super Heavy, was returned to its launch pad for the first time using giant mechanical arms.
Launching and returning the world's most powerful rocket pic.twitter.com/E8AWRc5TTZ
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) October 13, 2024
Normally, the lower stage falls away. However, in this case, 65 minutes after liftoff, it re-engaged and traveled back towards the launch pad. As it approached at supersonic speed, the engines turned on to slow it down. As it came closer, most of the engines were then turned off so that it could gently maneuver towards the pad and then come towards the “chopstick” arms in an unprecedented move.
Starship’s fifth flight test lifted off with our most ambitious test objectives yet as we work to demonstrate techniques fundamental to Starship and Super Heavy’s fully and rapidly reusable design.
And on our first try, Mechazilla caught the booster → https://t.co/hibmw2lVv1 pic.twitter.com/2KFm88fQPf
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) October 13, 2024
This catch-landing method represents the latest advancement in SpaceX’s test-to-failure approach, aimed at developing a fully reusable rocket. The Starship is designed to carry more cargo into orbit, transport humans to the moon for NASA, and ultimately fulfill Musk’s vision of reaching Mars.
Writing on X, the billionaire wrote: “The tower has caught the rocket!!”
The tower has caught the rocket!!
pic.twitter.com/CPXsHJBdUh— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 13, 2024
Meanwhile, the Starship—the rocket system’s second stage or upper half—traveled at around 17,000 miles per hour, reaching an altitude of 89 miles in space. It was headed toward the Indian Ocean near western Australia, aiming to demonstrate a controlled splashdown approximately 90 minutes into the flight.
Previous SpaceX Starship launch attempts
First unveiled by Musk in 2017, the Starship has experienced multiple explosions during various stages of testing on previous flights. In March, ReadWrite reported that the massive craft successfully reached a suborbital coast before plunging down harmlessly into the Indian Ocean. Then in June, it successfully completed a full flight for the first time.
Ahead of the fifth test, the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) granted SpaceX’s launch license on Saturday, following weeks of tension between the company and the regulator. This friction stemmed from disputes over the pace of launch approvals and fines imposed on SpaceX related to its Falcon 9 rocket.
In response to the fine, Musk has previously threatened legal action against the FAA. SpaceX also issued a public blog post refuting “false reporting” that claimed part of the rocket was causing environmental pollution.
Featured image: SpaceX
