Relive SpaceX’s epic Starship launch (and rocket catch) in these jawdropping photos and video
Fresh images of Starship’s flight test on Sunday (Oct. 13) look like incredible abstract art from space.
SpaceX released the photos late Tuesday (Oct. 15) to celebrate the fifth test flight of its Starship megarocket, which saw the vehicle’s Super Heavy first stage caught by launch tower “chopsticks” seven minutes after liftoff.
The Starship upper stage — known as Starship, or simply Ship — did a suborbital space cruise for about an hour before splashing down in the Indian Ocean as planned. The newest photos from SpaceX were beamed to Earth via the company’s Starlink internet satellites, showing the spacecraft at various phases of its mission.
SpaceX officials shared the images on X, formerly Twitter, which is owned by Elon Musk — the founder and CEO of SpaceX. “Starship on its fifth flight test. Views powered by @Starlink,” the laconic post read.
Related: SpaceX plans to catch Starship upper stage with ‘chopsticks’ in early 2025, Elon Musk says
Musk reposted the newest photos on X but did not make a comment. That said, he has been sharing a lot of footage of and reaction to the latest Starship flight. “Sometimes things do work after all,” Musk joked in one post Tuesday, referring to the Super Heavy catch by the “chopsticks” on the launch tower.
SpaceX aims to go a step further with Starship catching in the near future, Musk pledged in yet another post on X.
On top of snagging Super Heavy around the seven-minute mark, SpaceX wants to catch the 165-foot-tall (50 meters) Ship after that spacecraft completes its work.
Musk did not release exact timing, but said he is hopeful the milestone will come “early next year.”
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