SpaceX suffers setback in bid for first dual Starship recovery

Friday marked SpaceX's 15th Starship test flight, with the company aiming to achieve a groundbreaking feat – the first-ever recovery of an orbital launch system. The massive 124-metre (407-foot) rocket, named Starship, will attempt to return both its stages to Earth following a day in orbit.

SpaceX's ultimate goal is to create fully reusable spacecraft, a milestone that would significantly reduce mission costs and enable frequent travel. If the test is successful, Starship would become the first orbital launch system to be fully recovered, marking a breakthrough in the industry's pursuit of reusable spacecraft.

For the test, SpaceX plans to recover the Super Heavy booster, which has been successfully captured three times before. The booster descends vertically back to the launch site shortly after blastoff and lands into mechanical "chopstick" arms. The company will now attempt the same with the spaceship, a vessel designed for various purposes, including launching internet satellites and data centers, and ferrying people to the Moon and Mars.

Reusing Starship presents challenges, as the spacecraft must withstand the extreme heat of re-entering Earth's atmosphere and return without extensive refurbishment. Refueling in orbit is another technical hurdle that SpaceX must overcome to make journeys to the Moon or Mars possible.

The Starship project has faced years-long delays due to novel engineering challenges, despite NASA's reliance on the spaceship as a lunar lander for its Artemis program. SpaceX has already revolutionized the space sector with partially reusable Falcon rockets, but the Starship's complex capture manoeuvre is more challenging since the spaceship will descend faster and from a greater altitude.