Starship sees success in fifth launch, booster caught

Starship-Super Heavy, loaded with 10 million pounds of propellant, lifted off from SpaceX’s Boca Chica/Starbase launch site at 7:25 a.m. Sunday for the company’s fifth Starship test flight. 

In a first, the Super Heavy booster rocket was successfully guided to the launch pad and “caught” by two mechanized arms attached to the launch tower, meaning the booster can be reused. In previous test flights, the booster was landed in the Gulf about 20 miles offshore. The Starship and Super Heavy separated 2:42 minutes after liftoff, and the booster catch took place at 6:56 minutes after launch. 

Sixty-five minutes after launch, the six-engine Starship made a successful, controlled landing in the Indian Ocean off the west coast of Australia in the anticipated target zone. Buoy-mounted cameras caught the dramatic landing and what appeared to be post-landing explosion before the craft eventually sank.

The Federal Aviation Administration announced midday Saturday that it had issued the required license modification “authorizing SpaceX to launch multiple missions of the Starship/Super Heavy vehicle on the Flight 5 mission profile.” 

“The FAA determined SpaceX met all safety, environmental and other licensing requirements for the suborbital test flight. The Flight 5 mission profile involves launch of the combined Starship/Super Heavy vehicle from Boca Chica, Texas, a return to the launch site of the Super Heavy booster rocket for a catch attempt by the launch tower, and a water landing of the Starship vehicle in the Indian Ocean west of Australia,” FAA said. 

The launch could be heard clearly many miles away, including Brownsville, approximately 25 miles away from the launch site, and 45 miles away in Harlingen. 

SpaceX on Saturday issued a noticed to Cameron County residents and especially those nearest the launch site to expect loud noises from the test flight. 

“At the time of launch, the rocket’s 33 Raptor engines may be audible while firing upon ignition and as the vehicle launches toward space,” the company said. 

Along with the booster catch, a controlled reentry and landing of Starship was a primary goal of Flight 5, according to SpaceX. The flight and reentry of Starship was broadcast via Starlink and cameras mounted to the Starship, which showed a brightly glowing plasma field around the ship as it heated up to around 26,000 degrees Fahrenheit during reentry through the atmosphere.

The ship-mounted cameras showed the descent all the way to the water, while the buoy-mounted cameras showed the landing from sea level. 

“That was the best ending that we could have hoped for,” Kate Tice, SpaceX Quality Systems Engineering senior manager and broadcast host said of the test flight.

Editor’s note: This story has been updated with new information.