Celebrations abound as, on its fourth attempt, Elon Musk’s SpaceX has managed to bring its Starship rocket successfully back down to Earth for the first time, landing in the Indian Ocean.
“Splashdown confirmed! Congratulations to the entire SpaceX team on an exciting fourth flight test of Starship!” the company posted on X, following the booster being brought back down to the Gulf to hover just above the water.
Splashdown confirmed! Congratulations to the entire SpaceX team on an exciting fourth flight test of Starship!
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) June 6, 2024
The landing marks a huge step forward from previous SpaceX missions when the booster was destroyed in flight.
“We could see on the imagery that parts of the ship were coming apart in the extreme forces imposed on it during re-entry,” wrote BBC science correspondent Jonathan Amos, adding that “even after the lens on a camera cracked, it was evident the vehicle was able to descend broadly intact all the way to the sea surface.”
Hot stage jettison pic.twitter.com/J48QtQD1Ae
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) June 6, 2024
It was also reported that telemetry was still being sent back right at the very end, and there was some uncertainty around whether the ship fully performed its flip maneuver and hover.
“All told, this was a very, very impressive outing for Starship,” wrote Amos, “It got much further through its flight profile than on the first three test missions. SpaceX and boss Elon Musk will be thrilled with how things have gone.”
Despite loss of many tiles and a damaged flap, Starship made it all the way to a soft landing in the ocean!
Congratulations @SpaceX team on an epic achievement!! https://t.co/UnXbnmZ2pE
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 6, 2024
The billionaire CEO of SpaceX took to X to congratulate his team, writing: “Despite loss of many tiles and a damaged flap, Starship made it all the way to a soft landing in the ocean. Congratulations SpaceX team on an epic achievement.”
Elon Musk, SpaceX, and NASA
Among the test flights’ most invested observers is the US space agency, NASA. Starship is crucial to NASA’s Artemis program to get astronauts back on the moon this decade. A version of Starship would act as the landing craft, taking the crew from lunar orbit down to the surface, and then lifting them back off again.
Elon Musk’s SpaceX will first have to prove it can produce a safe and reliable vehicle before astronauts are allowed to climb aboard. NASA has scheduled late 2026 for when it would like to see people back on the moon. It remains to be seen whether SpaceX will be ready by then.
The company came close to avoiding an explosion in March but lost contact with the spacecraft as it careened out of space and blew up short of its goal. The booster also ruptured in flight a quarter-mile above the gulf.
Last year’s two test flights ended in explosions shortly after blasting off from the southern tip of Texas near the Mexican border. The first one cratered the pad at Boca Chica Beach and hurled debris for thousands of feet.
SpaceX upgraded the software and made some rocket-flyback changes to improve the odds. The Federal Aviation Administration signed off Tuesday on this fourth demo, saying all safety requirements had been met.
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