Sourced fact
The News
Elon Musk's company plans to attempt grabbing both halves of the Starship rocket for the first time in a new test flight on Friday, using the mechanical arms known as "chopsticks" located on the launch platform. If this attempt succeeds, it will be the first full recovery operation of a rocket that reached space, opening the door for making the Starship rocket fully reusable for repeated flights.
The company stated it will attempt to grab the lower part of the rocket, the very heavy booster, 6.5 minutes after launch when it returns to the launch platform at Starbase in Texas. Meanwhile, the upper section, called "the ship," will continue its journey into space to deploy 26 satellites within the Starlink network providing high-speed internet before completing orbits around Earth and returning to be caught approximately 22.5 hours after launch.
Officials clarified that NASA will monitor the mission closely due to the vital role the rocket will play in the Artemis program aimed at landing astronauts on the Moon by 2028. Sources also indicated that the company will decide only to attempt grabbing the upper section after a careful assessment of the vehicle while it is in space, with the possibility of guiding it to land in the ocean if any issues are detected.
According to BBC News, building a fully reusable rocket is SpaceX's long-term ambition, having become the first company to vertically land part of its Falcon 9 rocket in 2015. Professor Malcolm McDonald, head of the Royal Aeronautical Society, stated that a successful dual catch would be a visually stunning spectacle but has the potential to fundamentally change the economics of accessing space.
The company faces pressure from shareholders and US NASA authorities after becoming a public company earlier this year, especially with the development pace of the rocket slowing compared to initial plans. It also faces intense competition from Blue Origin, which holds a contract with the US space agency to use its New Glenn rocket for landing on the Moon as part of the Artemis III mission scheduled for summer 2027.
Analysis & context
Analysis & Context
From an analytical perspective, this dual-catch attempt represents a milestone in aerospace history, where SpaceX transitions from proving the rocket's flight capability to demonstrating how it can be operated repeatedly and economically. Professor Malcolm McDonald, head of the Royal Aeronautical Society, emphasized that while a single flight may not fully validate the model, it will signal an important shift in the company's operations, potentially transforming the economics of space access significantly.
In the broader context, NASA is under immense pressure to accelerate development as current progress has slowed compared to plans, while its competitor Blue Origin suffers major delays following a rocket explosion and destruction of its launch platform in Florida. Blue Origin's return to flight has been postponed to early 2027, increasing reliance on SpaceX to achieve the goals of the Artemis III mission planned for summer 2027, which includes four astronauts attempting to dock with landing vehicles from both companies.
These developments illustrate how competition between the United States and China in the space race is driving private companies to adopt bolder and more innovative technologies, as SpaceX pursues its long-held ambition of building a fully reusable rocket since 2015 when it became the first company to vertically land part of its Falcon 9 rocket.
