The World’s Largest Rocket Launched Into Orbit And Never Tested Flight
The world’s largest rocket, Starship, designed for manned missions to the Moon and Mars, launched on Sunday on its fifth test flight into orbit, developer SpaceX said.
The launch took place from the Starbase launch site in Boca Chica, Texas, at 08:25 local time. This launch is notable for the fact that SpaceX managed to soft-land the first stage for the first time, when it was picked up in mid-air by the Mechazilla launcher.
Since the previous test launch of Starship, which took place in June of this year, SpaceX engineers have made a number of changes, including to improve the ship’s thermal protection. Work was carried out to replace the skin of Starship, and the flaps received additional protection from the effects of high temperatures. Today’s launch will allow SpaceX to make history, since the company managed to land its super-heavy rocket for the first time in the world, for the capture of which a special Mechazilla tower was used, located on the territory of Starbase right next to the Starship launch pad. This approach will allow boosters to be prepared more quickly for new launches in the future.
Meanwhile, the Super Heavy carrier must, for the first time in the history of rocket technology, land back on the launch complex, where it will be captured upon landing by the levers of the Mechazilla system.