INTERGALACTIC

WATCH: SpaceX Becomes First to Successfully Launch and Catch Rocket

Sunday’s launch was Starship’s fifth test flight, 18 months after the rocket’s inaugural flight—during which the vehicle exploded shortly after launch.

Elon Musk’s SpaceX made history by safely and successfully returning a Starship rocket booster to its launch site after lifting off.

The rocket, named Super Heavy, launched on Sunday morning from SpaceX’s facility in Texas before making its way back toward the launch tower, where giant metal arms called “chopsticks” caught the rocket mid-air to prevent a hard landing.

“A day for the history books,” engineers at Musk’s company said upon Super Heavy’s safe return.

Sunday’s launch was Starship’s fifth test flight. During previous test flights, boosters had crashed into the Indian Ocean. Starship’s inaugural flight ended with the vehicle exploding shortly after launch.

The feat comes as SpaceX continues its development of a fully reusable and quickly deployable rocket. Starship was selected as the spacecraft to once again land US astronauts on the moon as soon as 2026.

Although hundreds of spectators have reportedly flocked to beaches to watch Starship launches, support for a lunar return is lukewarm. According to a Pew Research study from 2023, only 12 percent of American adults think bringing astronauts back to the Moon ought to be NASA’s top priority. Most Americans, however, say it is important for the U.S. to remain a leader in space.

NASA administrator Bill Nelson congratulated Musk and SpaceX’s Starship team after the successful launch and return. His agency has shelled out $4 billion to SpaceX to fund NASA’s moon project, Artemis.

“As we prepare to go back to the Moon under #Artemis, continued testing will prepare us for the bold missions that lie ahead -- including to the South Pole region of the Moon and then on to Mars,” he wrote on X.

“Thank you, sir! Looking forward to serving NASA in returning humanity to the Moon,” Musk replied.

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