SpaceX successfully conducted the fifth test flight of the Starship spacecraft to Mars.

For the first time, the one-stage Super Heavy rocket was caught and recovered by the ‘chopstick arm’ of the launch tower.
The second-stage spacecraft successfully landed in the Indian Ocean target area… No damage to the star,

SpaceX’s Starship rocket booster ‘Super Heavy’ reversing course at launch pad Mechazilla on the 13th (local time). [EPA],
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, ‘[Herald Economy=Reporter Kim Young-chul] Elon Musk’s space company SpaceX successfully completed the fifth orbital test flight of its large spacecraft Starship, developed for moon and Mars exploration, on the 13th (local time). Particularly, the first attempt to recover a large rocket using the ‘chopstick arm’ equipment was successful, marking a significant milestone in the development of Starship.’,
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, ‘Starship was launched at 7:25 a.m. (Central Time) from the Starbase space launch facility on the southern coast of Boca Chica, Texas. SpaceX broadcasted this scene live online.’,
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, ‘About 3 minutes after launch, the Super Heavy rocket, the first stage of the two-stage launch vehicle, smoothly separated from the upper spacecraft Starship. Also, for the first time, about 7 minutes after launch, the first stage rocket booster, Super Heavy, successfully performed a vertical landing from space back to Earth.’,
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, ‘The landing of the Super Heavy utilized a groundbreaking technology of using the ‘chopstick arm’ on the launch tower to catch the Super Heavy in mid-air slightly above the ground, showcasing immediate success in the technology.’,
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, ‘As the Super Heavy approached the launch tower, it rapidly reduced speed by thrusting in reverse from the engines, and with two large robot arms in a parallel and chopstick-shaped structure, it safely caught the large rocket and docked it back at the launch pad. These chopstick robot arms are also referred to as Mechazilla, named after the monster Godzilla in movies.’,
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, ‘SpaceX previously explained that its engineers had prepared for years and conducted tests for several months to attempt capturing the booster.’,
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, ‘When the Super Heavy successfully landed, SpaceX engineers cheered and applauded. Additionally, during the Super Heavy’s landing, the second stage of the spacecraft, the Starship, successfully completed a planned 75-minute flight.’,
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, ‘The Starship spacecraft reached an altitude of about 210 km at a speed of around 26,225 km/h, flew along the planned Earth orbit trajectory, then descended into the atmosphere, reducing altitude and splashing down in the ocean (splashdown) after around 40 minutes from launch without any explosions.’,
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, ‘The test flight of the Starship was an unmanned flight without astronauts on board or cargo loaded.’,
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, ‘SpaceX attempted orbital test flights of the Starship four times before, in April and November last year, and in March and June this year, but did not fully succeed in all attempts.’,
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, ‘In the two test flights last year, the spacecraft exploded after 4 and 10 minutes after launch, and in the third flight, the Starship flew for about 48 minutes, reached the planned orbit, but failed to land at the target point and was lost. In the fourth flight in June, the Starship successfully completed the intended flight, but the vehicle suffered significant damage during reentry into the atmosphere.’,
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, ‘On the other hand, the fifth test flight today achieved the major goals and left the most successful record of a Starship flight to date.’,
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, ‘Especially, by successfully capturing the Super Heavy with the chopstick arm without any damage and recovering it intact, SpaceX is now able to realize the ‘reuse’ of the targeted Super Heavy rocket.’,
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, ‘When the Super Heavy rocket operates normally, it is evaluated as the most powerful rocket ever, with a thrust of 17 million pounds. It is twice as powerful as NASA’s strongest launch vehicle ‘Space Launch System’ (SLS, with a thrust of 8.8 million pounds). Additionally, the second stage spacecraft also successfully achieved an ocean landing at the target point without any damage.’,
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, ‘SpaceX plans to further advance to the stage of fully recovering and reusing the second-stage spacecraft.’,
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CEO Elon Musk of Tesla and SpaceX attending a political festival organized by the right-wing party of Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni in Rome, Italy in December last year. [Reuters],
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, ‘After the flight, Musk tweeted on X (formerly Twitter), “Starship landed precisely at the target point” and said, “The second of the two goals has been achieved.” He continued, “A big step towards enabling (humans) to live on multiple planets was taken today.”‘,
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, ‘Musk has been developing Starship with the goal of pioneering Mars exploration to enable human migration. This spacecraft will also be used in NASA’s ‘Artemis’ project third phase mission to send humans to the moon for the first time in half a century.’,
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, ‘Starship, with a length of 50 meters and a diameter of 9 meters, is designed to carry up to 150 tons inside, and when combined with the largest rocket Super Heavy (71 meters in length) ever launched, the total length of the launch vehicle reaches 121 meters.’,
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