SpaceX Succeeds in Spacecraft Body Recovery Test... One Step Closer to a "Fully Reusable Rocket"

Returned to launch site after 14 orbits around Earth
First-stage booster explodes... cause under investigation

Elon Musk's space company SpaceX has successfully recovered the upper stage of a spacecraft for the first time.

Starship's upper stage returning to the launch pad. AP-Yonhap News

On November 14 local time, foreign media outlets, including the Associated Press, reported that SpaceX had recovered the Starship upper stage after it returned from its 15th test flight that day at Starbase in Texas. The recovery came about 22 hours after the spacecraft was launched from the same site the previous afternoon.

Footage of the test flight showed the spacecraft orbiting Earth 14 times at an altitude of 165 miles (about 266 km) over approximately 22 hours and 32 minutes before returning to the launch site from which it had departed. Starship descended through the clouds, righted itself vertically, slowed down and approached the launch tower. As the spacecraft moved between the mechanical arms, they caught it. The spacecraft came to a stop suspended above the ground.

Commentator Dan Hewitt exclaimed, "Can you believe it? She came back!" SpaceX played the rock band Player's "Baby Come Back" as background music during the broadcast.

SpaceX has recovered the first-stage boosters, which complete their role within the atmosphere and separate from the spacecraft, several times. But this was the first time it had recovered an upper stage launched into space. SpaceX said the spacecraft's systems appeared to have worked properly, including the heat shield that protects the vehicle from the heat generated during atmospheric reentry. The successful test demonstrated the potential for fully reusable rockets.

However, the rocket's first-stage booster, Super Heavy, fell into the Gulf of Mexico and exploded just over 10 minutes after liftoff the previous day, derailing SpaceX's original goal of recovering the first and second stages simultaneously. Kate Tice, SpaceX's quality assurance director, said the cause was that "engine burns shut down too early during descent." SpaceX is investigating the cause of the premature engine shutdown.

Jared Isaacman, administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), also offered his congratulations, saying, "It was almost magic," and adding, alongside moon and American flag emojis, "More people are believing with each passing day. We are one step closer to America's lunar plans." NASA plans to use Starship as a lunar lander for its crewed lunar exploration program, Artemis.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.