First-ever “Go for catch” attempt was awesome!
Back in June, Flight Test 4 was a tremendous success. Shortly afterwards, Elon Musk announced that the next one would include an attempt to catch the Super Heavy booster using the “chopsticks” (two mechanical arms) on the launch tower.
We’ve had to wait longer than expected for this, even though the hardware has been ready to fly since August. Not long ago, the FAA stated that regulatory approval would not be granted before the end of November. An “unwarranted and frivolous lawsuit” by an environmental non-governmental organisation wasn’t helping, but thankfully any doubts were squashed a few days ago by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality. This was one of several clear indications that Flight Test 5 would go ahead NET Sunday 13th October. The FAA finally issued a licence yesterday (Saturday).
Credit: SpaceX
Bill Gerstenmaier, SpaceX’s Vice President for Build and Flight Reliability, recently revealed that Flight 4’s booster performed a soft landing in the ocean “with half a centimetre accuracy”. This snippet of knowledge added confidence to the idea of catching a returning Super Heavy booster on the launch tower, where exactness is obviously essential. That said, SpaceX made it very clear that “thousands of distinct vehicle and pad criteria must be met prior to a return and catch attempt of the Super Heavy booster, which will require healthy systems on the tower and booster and a manual command from the mission’s Flight Director”. If anything was less than nominal, the booster would revert to a soft splashdown in the Gulf of Mexico.
One of the key upgrades from the previous test flight has been the complete reworking of Starship’s heatshield. SpaceX technicians have spent more than 12,000 hours replacing the entire thermal protection system with newer-generation tiles, a backup ablative layer, and additional protections between the flap structures.
Today’s 30-minute launch window opened at 7.00am CT (1.00pm UK time), but the actual targeted time for lift-off was nearer the end of the window because of needing to clear the range of a few remaining ships. The weather, thankfully, was near perfect. And the timing couldn’t have been better with great early morning light for the filming.
SpaceX have always done a far, far better job than NASA when it comes to live presentations of a launch and today was no exception. The scenic views of Starship/Super Heavy and the launch site, next to the sea, were yet again wonderful to see - brilliantly setting the scene and building the anticipation for what was to come.
The power of 33 Raptor engines Credit: SpaceX
The clock counted down as the Flight Director gave the all-important “Go for launch!” command, shortly followed by the water deluge system erupting into action. Lift-off of Flight 5 happened smoothly just as the sun magically rose over the horizon. All 33 Raptor engines of Super Heavy ignited and worked flawlessly.
The glowing early sunlight was reflecting on the side of Super Heavy as the space rocket blasted its way upwards at a phenomenal speed. MAXQ - the point where maximum dynamic pressure or stress is applied to the structure - was reached and passed at the T+1 minute point into the flight. So far, so good.
A flawless ascent Credit: SpaceX
The on-board cameras provided sensational views, especially the blue flames from the Raptor engines which prompted a burst of applause (one of many) from the watching SpaceX employees. Stage separation went well. Starship’s six Raptor engines successfully ignited and Super Heavy initiated its boost-back burn. Everything was still looking great.
Credit: SpaceX
Shortly afterwards, at about five minutes after launch, we heard that the Flight Director had given the command to “Go for catch!”.
I’ve watched every Starship test flight live from the very beginning. First up was the bizarre-looking Starhopper - now affectionally known as “Hoppy” - shooting out diamond-shaped flames from its single Raptor engine as it rose 150m above the ground. Becky and Victoria joined me to watch everything that came next. The Serial Number prototypes were increasingly exciting. SN4 seemed to pass a final static fire test, but then experienced a RUD (Rapid Unscheduled Disassembly). SN5 and SN6 hopped successfully. SN8 looked like today’s upper Starship and successfully ascended to 10km, performed the astonishing belly-flop manoeuvre on its way down, before flipping into the landing position. It briefly touched down, on target, but far too quickly, before exploding. When we eventually got to SN15, it landed gently and remained upright.
SN10 Credit: SpaceX
Much of what SpaceX has achieved has been ground-breaking, with industry “experts” in other rocket companies mocking their ambitions early on, only to be proved wrong. Falcon 9 has been incredibly successful, proving the practicality of reusability for its first stage. Starship is considerably bigger and the aim is full reusability. When I first heard of the plans to catch returning Super Heavy boosters by using mechanical “arms” on the launch tower, I wondered if this idea might be a bit crazy. Three years ago, talking about the concept, Elon Musk himself admitted: “I know it sounds insane.” But he quickly added: “ It might take a few kicks of the can, but we’ll get it right.”
Today, it happened. Successfully. On the very first attempt. Against the beautiful backdrop of sunrise on the south Texas coastline. It was real - not some Hollywood CGI intended to fool our eyes. And you absolutely have to see it for yourself because words are inadequate.
Return of the booster! Credit: SpaceX
Gotcha! Credit: SpaceX
The rest of the test flight was likewise successful. The colours we saw as Starship re-entered our planet’s atmosphere, 46 minutes after lift-off, triggering the plasma and incredible heat, were a sight to behold. And all being viewed in real time. The improved heatshield seemed to work well, albeit still with further design tweaks required on the flaps. Finally, Starship landed on target in the water after one hour and six minutes - with views from the on-board cameras, plus video from a specially-placed buoy.
Re-entry Credit: SpaceX
SpaceX suitably concluded their epic live broadcast by treating us to a recap of the awesome first-ever booster catch as seen from no less than four different camera angles.
Edited to add: Later that day, after this article was published, SpaceX lowered the caught booster back onto the Orbital Launch Mount. Elon Musk, after an initial inspection of the booster, said it “Looks great!”.
Lowered onto the Orbital Launch Mount after return Credit: SpaceX
You can watch a replay of the official broadcast here.
Written by Iain Scott, 13th October 2024