SpaceX successfully recovered the upper stage of its Starship spacecraft on November 14, marking the first time a large spacecraft that completed an orbital flight was captured by a launch tower. This achievement is seen as a significant milestone in advancing technology for fully reusable spacecraft, which could lower launch costs in the space industry.
According to reports from CNBC and AFP, SpaceX captured the upper stage of Starship, which had completed its orbital flight, using a large robotic arm mounted on the launch tower during its 15th test flight conducted at Starbase in Texas.
This test flight was the first attempt to recover both the first-stage booster and the second-stage upper section of Starship. While SpaceX had previously captured the first-stage booster three times using the robotic arm, this was the first successful recovery of the upper stage after it performed its mission in space.
The upper stage entered orbit and circled the Earth 14 times over approximately 22 hours before returning to its launch site at Starbase. After withstanding the intense heat of re-entering the atmosphere, it was captured mid-air between two massive robotic arms installed on the launch tower.
Elon Musk, CEO of SpaceX, celebrated the success by posting a video on social media platform X (formerly Twitter) showing him inspecting the upper stage after its capture.
However, during the initial phase of the test flight on November 13, SpaceX failed to recover the first-stage booster, which prevented the simultaneous recovery of both stages as originally planned. The booster was intended to return to the launch tower but deviated from its recovery path due to navigation issues and was directed to land in the Gulf of Mexico. Unfortunately, the booster exploded before reaching the water's surface.
Despite this setback, the successful recovery of the upper stage has been hailed as proof of the potential for fully reusable rockets. If both the first-stage booster and the second-stage upper section can be recovered and reused, it is expected to significantly reduce the costs of launching spacecraft.
Experts view this achievement as an important technological advancement in the development of fully reusable rockets, though they emphasize that further validation is needed before commercial use can be realized. Clayton Swartz, a space and aerospace expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), stated to AFP, "This is a remarkable technological achievement and demonstrates that the vision of a fully reusable spacecraft like Starship can be realized." However, Kathleen Curley, a senior analyst at Georgetown University's Center for Security and Emerging Technologies, stressed the need for multiple successful repetitions to prove readiness for sensitive cargo and missions.
* This article has been translated by AI.
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