SpaceX Starship launch is set to test novel booster retrieval system

In a mock-up video posted on X in June, the company showed a rocket booster falling from the sky and firing its thrusters to slow itself down, before navigating between closing tower arms. The company warned that the rocket’s slowdown from supersonic speeds will set off sonic booms, sending thunderous noises through the areas surrounding the company’s South Texas launch facility.

The risky maneuver is a step toward SpaceX’s goal of “full and rapid reusability” for Starship, which is the world’s largest and most powerful rocket and a linchpin of founder Elon Musk’s hopes to eventually colonize Mars. Musk has said he plans to launch about five uncrewed Starship missions to Mars in the next two years, with possible crewed missions to follow.

Sunday’s scheduled flight is the fifth test flight for the fully integrated Starship, which stands nearly 400 feet tall and is composed of the Super Heavy booster and the Starship spacecraft. With each flight test, the company has made significant progress, and NASA is hoping it continues to do so. The space agency is investing about $4 billion into the program and intends to use Starship to return its astronauts to the lunar surface as part of its Artemis program.

Lori Glaze, NASA’s acting deputy associate administrator in its exploration directorate, recently said the space agency is “really looking forward” to the flight attempt. And NASA Administrator Bill Nelson has said the spacecraft is vital to the agency’s lunar ambitions at a time when it is in a space race with China and many other countries, including India and Japan, that are aiming for the moon.

SpaceX said its engineers have been making “extensive upgrades” to its hardware and software to prepare for the rocket catch.

“SpaceX engineers have spent years preparing and months testing for the booster catch attempt, with technicians pouring tens of thousands of hours into building the infrastructure to maximize our chances for success,” the company wrote in an announcement previewing the test flight.

Still, there is a chance that the company won’t attempt to catch the booster. Before it can be pulled off, thousands of “distinct vehicle and pad criteria” must be met, according to the company. If the rocket is healthy and conditions are met, the SpaceX flight director would send up a command to the booster, directing it to the landing site.

If the conditions aren’t met, the rocket is programmed to default to a landing burn and splashdown in the Gulf of Mexico. The spacecraft, meanwhile, would circle much of the globe and eventually splashdown in the Indian Ocean.