Sandar Pichai, CEO of Google, congratulated Elon Musk in a post on X platform, after the Starship vehicle achieved a record-breaking feat that marks a significant leap in Musk’s mission to Mars. Pichai wrote in his post: “Congratulations, I must admit, I’ve watched the video several times, it’s unbelievable!”, praising the video shared by Musk which included an exciting commentary: “The tower caught the rocket.”
Demis Hassabis, co-founder and CEO of Google DeepMind, who recently won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry, also expressed his congratulations to Musk, saying: “Awesome! Congratulations!”, reflecting the growing momentum around SpaceX’s achievements.
During its fifth test flight, the lower half of the SpaceX vehicle, known as the Super Heavy booster, managed to return to the launch platform, where it was caught in mid-air by a pair of giant mechanical arms. This unprecedented achievement marks a pivotal moment in SpaceX’s efforts to develop a fully reusable spacecraft.
This moment is a turning point in the development of a reusable rocket, with SpaceX engineers acknowledging that the chances of catching the booster in the first attempt were slim, as it was expected to land in the Gulf of Mexico.
This success surpasses SpaceX’s earlier Starship attempts, which faced a dramatic setback during its initial flight eighteen months ago when it disintegrated shortly after launch. However, the recent successful landing operations, culminating in the precise capture using mechanical arms known as “chopsticks”, demonstrate the engineering progress made by the company.
The implications of this achievement exceed SpaceX’s grand ambitions, as mastering the capture and reuse of the Super Heavy booster is a crucial step towards achieving a reusable launch system, vital for making space travel more cost-effective and frequent. Reusability plays a vital role in Musk’s plans, significantly reducing the costs of space missions, enabling multiple trips to Mars and beyond.
Starship, the most powerful rocket ever built, is designed to transport humans across the solar system. Standing at approximately 400 feet tall, the vehicle boasts unparalleled thrust capabilities, capable of delivering large payloads into space. The main part of the spacecraft, also known as Starship, successfully reached orbit during its latest test before landing in the Indian Ocean.
The consecutive achievements bolster SpaceX’s efforts towards realizing the Mars mission dream, and with each new step, Musk’s vision of building a sustainable human presence on other planets shifts from science fiction to a tangible goal. The recent achievement reinforces Starship’s role as a crucial vehicle in the quest for exploring Mars and establishing a future settlement there.
