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Elon Musk reveals recovery plan for SpaceX’s Super Heavy booster that catches engine with launch tower
- Elon Musk revealed Starship Heavy booster would be caught when he returns
- Musk suggests using the launch tower arm used to stabilize the vehicle
- This would reduce costs and immediately position the booster for another launch.
- Musk also said this method would get him back on track in less than an hour.
Elon Musk is known to have revealed ambitious plans, and the latest one suggests that the Startship’s Super Heavy booster won’t land, but will be caught when he returns to Earth.
The SpaceX CEO shared on Twitter that the heavy thruster, which is still in development, will be picked up by the launch tower arm used to stabilize the vehicle as it prepares for takeoff.
The proposed method would immediately reposition the booster on the launch pad, allowing it to take off “in less than an hour”.
SpaceX is working on the Super Heavy rocket at its Boca Chica, Texas test facility, but is set to perform more test flights of its Starship prototypes that lack the huge booster.
Starship is made up of two – the Super Heavy booster and the rocket that Musk designed to carry up to 100 people to Mars at a time.
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Elon Musk is known to have revealed ambitious plans, and the latest one suggests that the Startship’s Super Heavy booster won’t land, but will be caught when he returns to Earth. The SpaceX CEO shared on Twitter that the heavy thruster, which is still in development, will be picked up by the launch tower arm used to stabilize the vehicle as it prepares for takeoff.
Now that SpaceX has launched three of the Starship prototypes into the air, it looks like the company is starting to plan how the process will work when the booster is added.
Musk’s ambitious plan is said to be a way to cut costs and mass by removing the need for the booster to have legs to land.
However, if the CEO is to achieve his goal of sending a million people to Mars by 2025, SpaceX will need to launch multiple spacecraft in a single day.
When the tower arm grabs the booster, it is immediately put back into “ready” mode allowing it to take off again in less than an hour.
The proposed method would immediately reposition the booster on the launch pad, allowing it to take off again “ in less than an hour ”
The spaceship is made up of two – the Super Heavy booster and the rocket that Musk designed to carry up to 100 people to Mars at a time.
The last Starship to perform a test flight, serial number 8 (SN8) was considered the most successful launch – but it was also the most destructive.
The world tuned in on December 10 to watch the massive rocket take off from Boca Chica with the aim of reaching 41,000 feet in the air – the highest “ jump ” of any craft.
The ascent of the prototype spacecraft took about six minutes before the engines shut down and SN8 returned to the launch pad.
The world sat on the edge of their seats as the rocket approached the ground – wondering if Musk’s prediction of a bumpy landing would prove to be correct.
When Starship finally landed, it caught fire – and, once the fire and smoke cleared, all that was left was a pile of debris topped with what was left of the craft’s nose cone.
Musk shared his enthusiasm for the launch on Twitter, writing, “ Successful climb, switch to header tanks and precise flap control to the point of landing! ”
“ The fuel manifold tank pressure was low during the landing burn resulting in high touchdown speed and RUD, but we got all the data we needed! Congratulations to the SpaceX team, yeah !! ‘
The spaceship is made up of two – the Super Heavy booster and the rocket that Musk designed to carry up to 100 people to Mars at a time.
The CEO then thanked South Texas for their support in a separate tweet, followed by another that read “Mars, here we are !!”
In the past year alone, SpaceX has performed two low-level flight tests with SN5 and SN6 and over 16,000 seconds of uptime during engine starts on the ground.
In addition, with the acceleration of production and the increase in fidelity, SpaceX has built 10 prototypes of spacecraft. SN9 is almost ready to move to the pad, which now has two active media for rapid development testing, ”the company said.
Landing is one of the most important aspects – because it has to be fully reusable to meet the goals and price per flight set by the SpaceX team.
There are a number of potential uses for Starship, including deploying hundreds of satellites into orbit at a time and landing astronauts on the Moon and Mars.
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