CONNECT WITH US
Tech

Tech

Here's how SpaceX plans to catch Starship's upper stage for the first time

Engadget logo

Published on

Add as a preferred source on Google
Here's how SpaceX plans to catch Starship's upper stage for the first time

Elon Musk says SpaceX will attempt to capture both the vehicle’s lower and upper stages for test flight 15.

SpaceX is planning to catch both the Starship's Super Heavy booster and its upper stage, dubbed the "Ship," for the first time ever for the vehicle's 15th flight test. During the company's earnings call, which was livestreamed on X, Elon Musk announced SpaceX's plan for the flight that could take place as soon as next month. SpaceX also showed a short video during the livestream, demonstrating how it intends to safely retrieve the Ship when it makes its way back to Earth.

You can watch the SpaceX earnings call and fast forward to 1:07:19 to watch the simulation, but you can also watch the excerpt below, courtesy of investor Sawyer Merritt.

As you can see, the company intends to catch the Ship using the "chopstick" arms of its launch tower, which it had also used in the past to capture the vehicle's Super Heavy booster. While both of the vehicle's stages splashed into the ocean for test flight 14, SpaceX's ultimate goal is to develop Starship into a fully and rapidly reusable orbital launch vehicle for future deep space missions. It was, after all, designed with the purpose of carrying crew and cargo to the moon and to Mars in mind. If the company manages to catch both stages next month, it would be a huge step towards achieving that goal.

As Space notes, the company has yet to try capturing Starship's upper stage, as it travels higher and farther than the booster.


Source link
Related Topics:Tech

Disclaimer

We strive to uphold the highest ethical standards in all of our reporting and coverage. We TheMorningPulse.fyi want to be transparent with our readers about any potential conflicts of interest that may arise in our work. It's possible that some of the investors we feature may have connections to other businesses, including competitors or companies we write about. However, we want to assure our readers that this will not have any impact on the integrity or impartiality of our reporting. We are committed to delivering accurate, unbiased news and information to our audience, and we will continue to uphold our ethics and principles in all of our work. Thank you for your trust and support.