Raumfahrt: SpaceX fängt Riesen-Rakete Starship erstmals wieder auf

For the first time, SpaceX's massive Starship rocket successfully retrieved its upper stage after an all-land test flight on Earth. Approximately 20 hours after launch, the Starship gracefully returned to the Starbase orbital launch site in Texas and was captured by grappling arms on the launch tower. This marked SpaceX's maiden attempt at such a recovery, as a previous test flight had failed to capture the lower rocket stage.

The previous 15 test flights had seen SpaceX miss its mark, with the lower stage failing to return to Earth. SpaceX's Super Heavy booster returned briefly to Earth before crashing into the ocean in flames. The cause of this failure remained undisclosed at the time. Previous test launches had successfully captured the lower stage.

The upper stage, or Starship, swung into an Earth orbit shortly after detaching from the lower stage and orbited the Earth multiple times. Its last test flight in September saw the largest ever-built rocket system reach orbit for the first time before safely splashing down in the Pacific Ocean three hours later. Despite its massive size, Starship is designed to be reusable, consisting of a 70-meter long Super Heavy booster and the 50-meter tall Starship upper stage, both of which are intended to return to Earth for reuse.

SpaceX first tested the Starship system in April 2023, with the system exploding after a few minutes. Subsequent tests had varying degrees of success. NASA aims to send astronauts to the Moon using Starship, while SpaceX also aims to eventually reach Mars.