SpaceX Catches 20-Story Rocket Booster

Boca Chica, Texas —(Map)

On Sunday, SpaceX launched its Starship rocket for the fifth time. The real excitement came when the 20-story-tall booster rocket returned to the launch site and was caught in mid-air by two giant metal arms.

SpaceX is a company that works to develop rockets and other technology for space. The company was started by Elon Musk. SpaceX has a goal of making rockets that can be used over and over again. That would make it much cheaper to send things into space. Mr. Musk has big dreams for SpaceX, which include taking humans to Mars.

SpaceX is also working with NASA to support the Artemis program. NASA has a $4 billion deal with SpaceX to use the Starship rocket to land astronauts on the moon.

The rocket fired on Sunday is the largest and most powerful rocket ever built. It’s even bigger than NASA’s massive Space Launch System. It can carry over 100 metric tons (220,500 pounds or 100,000 kilograms) into orbit.

The rocket has two parts. The upper part is the Starship, which travels into space. The booster, called Super Heavy, is the lower part.

“Boosters” are used to push the main spacecraft up into space. They fall back to Earth when their fuel is gone. In the past, most boosters got used just once. But in recent years, SpaceX has developed a system for reusing boosters on its smaller Falcon 9 rockets. These boosters use special engines to slow themselves down as they fall to Earth, and then land in a controlled way.

The rocket fired on Sunday is the largest and most powerful rocket ever built. It has two parts. The upper part is the Starship (above), which travels into space. The booster (not shown) is called “Super Heavy”, and is even taller than the Starship. It’s about as tall as a 20-story building, and 30 feet (9 meters) across.

The Super Heavy booster is much bigger than Falcon 9’s booster. It’s about as tall as a 20-story building, and 30 feet (9 meters) across.

Sunday’s event was an important step toward making the booster reusable. After helping the Starship spacecraft up into space, the booster fell back to Earth. As it was falling, the booster began to fire its engines again to steer toward the launch site. But it was still traveling faster than the speed of sound.

Closer to the ground, the booster fired its engines again, to slow it down more, and aimed for the giant launch tower that SpaceX calls “Mechazilla”. Mechazilla caught the massive booster in the air using two giant arms. This is the first time a booster this large has ever been caught in the air.

Closer to the ground, the booster fired its engines again, to slow it down more, and aimed for the giant launch tower that SpaceX calls “Mechazilla”. Mechazilla caught the massive booster in the air using two giant arms.

The Starship spacecraft followed a different path. It flew into space before landing in the Indian Ocean. SpaceX planned to land Starship in a very specific location, and it was successful. After landing, the spacecraft blew up, but SpaceX was expecting that. In time, the company hopes to catch the Starship spacecraft just like it caught the Super Heavy booster.

For SpaceX, being able to catch the booster means that it won’t need to be transported back to the launch site. In the future, the company can simply concentrate on preparing the booster for its next launch. That will make SpaceX’s launches much faster and cheaper. That will be necessary to achieve goals like sending heavy loads to the moon or to Mars.

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Did You Know…?
The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is in charge of rocket launches in the US. Recently, SpaceX and the FAA have had growing disagreements about SpaceX’s launches. The FAA is concerned about safety and damage to the environment. These disagreements will need to be sorted out for SpaceX to continue launching its Starship spacecraft.