SpaceX Starship, Super Heavy rocket returns to launch base

SpaceX's attempt to recover the Super Heavy booster of the Starship rocket 'on the fly' and place it on the ground succeeds. This is a crucial step in the quest for space exploration, as it potentially allows for the re-use of launchers, saving enormous amounts of time and money. "Mechazilla got the Super Heavy booster!" the company wrote on X referring to the nickname given by founder Elon Musk to the 150-metre high tower with huge mechanical arms designed specifically to grab the rocket in flight during descent. In the future, SpaceX aims to recover the Starship spacecraft in the same way.

Less than seven minutes after its launch, the Super Heavy rocket returned exactly to the launch site, on the ramp from which it had departed at the Boca Chica base. The fifth test of the ship, designed by Elon Musk's company to be completely and quickly reusable in view of future trips to the Moon and Mars, has thus fully achieved its main objective.

The test follows the one conducted last June. The Starship then docked as planned in the Indian Ocean. The fifth flight test was thus concluded with complete success. The ditching, which took place just over an hour after the launch, marks the achievement of all the objectives set out in the test