Newshot Making History: US SpaceX Achieves First Chopsticks Capture of Starship
IT之家 reported on November 15 that today local time, American space exploration company SpaceX, during the 15th Starship test flight mission, for the first time successfully used the launch tower's "chopsticks" mechanical arms to capture the Starship upper stage spacecraft returning from Earth orbit. This is the first company in history to successfully return the upper stage (Upper Stage) of an orbital-class rocket to the launch site and complete capture via the launch tower.
On Friday evening local time, Ship 42 of the 15th test flight mission lifted off atop booster B22 and successfully completed its mission after entering orbit. SpaceX said that cameras mounted on 3 satellites photographed the spacecraft's heat shield, and the results showed that the heat shield was in good condition and could meet the requirements for re-entry into the atmosphere, so ground controllers abandoned the backup ocean splashdown plan.
IT之家 noted that by Saturday morning, SpaceX said the launch pad and launch tower systems were ready to perform the capture mission. After completing about 14 orbital laps, the Starship spacecraft fired its engines to deorbit, re-entered the atmosphere, and was finally successfully captured by the launch tower's "chopsticks" mechanical arms.
However, it should be noted that this mission was not a complete success, because SpaceX did not recover the entire launch vehicle. But this mission is still an important milestone for the Starship project. Considering that SpaceX has previously successfully captured boosters in multiple launch missions, the problem that occurred this time is not insurmountable. SpaceX is still investigating why the booster aborted the landing procedure.
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