SpaceX achieved a major milestone Sunday as it successfully caught the Super Heavy booster after launching Starship’s fifth test flight from the company’s Starbase facility in Boca Chica, Texas.
Mechazilla has caught the Super Heavy booster! pic.twitter.com/6R5YatSVJX
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) October 13, 2024
The Super Heavy booster was caught midair by “chopsticks”, massive mechanical arms attached to a towering structure nicknamed Mechazilla. The launch occurred at 8:25am ET as the rocket system lifted off for another major test in its development.
This marks the first time SpaceX has attempted and succeeded in using Mechazilla to catch the 232-foot-tall booster, which plays a critical role in Starship’s reusability.
Starship, the upper stage of the vehicle, separated from the booster and continued its unmanned journey over the Indian Ocean before splashing down as planned around 9:30am ET.
SpaceX’s Starship system, consisting of the Super Heavy booster and Starship spacecraft, is designed to be fully reusable, aiming to reduce the costs and time needed to send humans and cargo to Earth’s orbit, the Moon, and eventually Mars.
With 33 engines, the Super Heavy generates more power than SpaceX’s Falcon 9, requiring new techniques for booster recovery, such as using Mechazilla instead of landing legs.
The success of this test moves SpaceX closer to its goal of supporting missions like NASA’s Artemis III, which aims to put astronauts back on the Moon as early as 2026.