What Exactly Happened On SpaceX's Fifth Starship Flight Test?

[@Nightscape_]

I lost my marbles when I saw them catch the booster - that was wild! I can't believe they caught it on the first attempt.

[@That_Awesome_Guy1]

I can.

[@caocao45590]

Considering that it took 5 tries to land the starship (SN8, SN9, SN10, SN11, SN15), I am amazed this was successful on the first try, as this is magnitudes more difficult. Congratulations SpaceX!!!

[@aussie_al]

I will never forget the time when the 2 Falcon Heavy Boosters gracefully landed side by side at the same time. Then the Falcon 9's landing on a barge in the middle of the ocean. But now I'm totally loosing my mind over what I've seen today. Can you imagine how insane it will be when he catches the booster on 1 tower and Starship on the other tower at the same time.

[@lesterburnham509]

​@matthodel946 "Im making my family mad... I do what everybody don't like. I also vote different..." Good for You man!

[@martinwoollett8468]

@@matthodel946 obviously you don't care for their future.

[@i-love-space390]

Aside from the catch, the fact that all the engines on Super Heavy functioned so well with no "engine outs" is one of the most impressive feats of this test flight. The shutdowns and relights seemed to be flawless. Pretty damned amazing for so many engines at a time. Relighting 13 engines...TWICE... wow.

[@Rizzler420-uh4yd]

The 13 center engines relit 3 times, not 2. Liftoff, boost back, landing.

[@joellewis6086]

@@Rizzler420-uh4yd Um - that would be one ignition, followed by _two_ shutdowns and relights. So the poster is actually technically correct.😉

[@aussie_al]

I will never forget the time when the 2 Falcon Heavy Boosters gracefully landed side by side at the same time. Then the Falcon 9's landing on a barge in the middle of the ocean. But now I'm totally loosing my mind over what I've seen today. Can you imagine how insane it will be when he catches the booster on 1 tower and Starship on the other tower at the same time.

[@rodneylee4026]

It wouldn't be at the same time because the booster comes down right away and the ship is off on the rest of the mission.

[@diamond_h0us]

What if they made the tower taller and caught the starship above the booster on the same tower for fast reattachment?

[@aussie_al]

@@diamond_h0us What if Elon could get Starship to take off and land like Thunderbird 2 . They wouldn't need the tower then unless he wanted one for Thunderbird 1🤣🤣

[@kaasmeester5903]

Those two boosters landing side by side was straight out of a SF movie. SpaceX is showing up the entire industry.

[@freddywong2638]

Can't wait for flight 6!

[@rudypieplenbosch6752]

History in the making, that was epic, didn't think they could do it at first try.

[@damitcam]

I remember thinking he had lost his mind when he first mentioned it.

[@rudypieplenbosch6752]

@@damitcam It seemed a bit rediculous to try and catch it, again he proved me wrong. I lost it today when they succeeded, what an epic moment it was.

[@damitcam]

@@rudypieplenbosch6752 i was literally jumping up and down i was so excited and not for the first time during this test program

[@rudypieplenbosch6752]

@@damitcam Yes me too, it seemed after decades of basically "nothing", finally someone is able to get us somewhere, and not afraid to put his own money into it, finally something to get excited about. And to think there are even "engineers" out there that criticise his achievements.

[@ElectricSpokes]

Someone said …” they caught a building with another building”. The engineering and everything that goes with it… mind blowing. I was screaming through the house “THEY GOT IT… THEY GOT IT… THEY GOT IT….

[@HarryKaemerle]

This was the first rocket launch I've ever had the honor of watching in person, safe to say I was in complete awe 🔥

[@PinoAstro]

I'm so jealous! It was an amazing experience just watching online with the rest of the world... but it must have been amazing in-person! What a first!

[@ddegn]

Wow! That does sound amazing. Were you able to see the catch?

[@davidstevenson9517]

Lucky you, Harry! I've only had the honour of watching two men land and walk on the Moon for the first time in Human History; live in July, 1969, aged 6 years (Oh well!). I guess, Harry, you really must be enjoying Life now; having watched an uncrewed SpaceX sub-orbital test-launch... and launched from Texas, too!

[@PinoAstro]

@davidstevenson9517 not really the same. Yes, the Apollo missions were broadcast on TV, but did you watch the Saturn V launch in person? I'd guess not. IMO, seeing IFT-5 in-person was the best launch to see in-person, in history, to date. No other featured a launch tower catching a returning booster.

[@WetAvacadoGaming]

I genuinely can not get over this watching this live was insane. The tension as we saw the booster rip through the clouds and actually land itself was insane

[@aussie_al]

@@WetAvacadoGaming I saw how fast the booster was travelling and i thought there is no way it's going to wash of that speed. But it bloody did.

[@WetAvacadoGaming]

@@aussie_al Same here man I though it was all over when I saw 1000kmph and 2km but all of them lit and it worked. I was shaking

[@adrikrotten880]

Every launch, I'm a mild skeptic. I know there will be success, but I'm never fully prepared for just how MUCH of a success these past few launches have been.

[@FerociousPancake888]

I thought for sure they were gonna have at least one failed landing or at least accidentally catch it on its grid fins but nope, straight to the pins O_o

[@davidstevenson9517]

The first three test flights were failures and the fourth, after splashing down, exploded. Only SpaceX Fanboys believe "The Starship Success Story"; they carefully edit Reality every day to fit their "Escape from Old Dying Earth to New Life Mars" Scifi - WASP Fantasy. How sad. As each SpaceX Fanboy finally realises that Starship is really only about launching StarLink comsats en masse, that their Prophet was lying about Mars, don't shed any tears for his/her "Hubris". ("Fall from Self-Glory") They each deserve every once of personal embarrasment and self-loathing they've garnered.

[@squirrelsinjacket1804]

There are really limitless possibilities for Starship once it becomes a proven launch vehicle similar to Falcon 9. It sounds like the US military is already interested in setting up a catch tower/fuel infrastructure to provide a point to point capability anywhere on Earth that can deliver 150 metric tons of cargo within a few hours, essentially a good deal more than the C5 super galaxy it's largest plane can. Imagine getting a few of those deliveries over a couple of days without having to worry about flying through potentially contested airspace.

[@TheEvilmooseofdoom]

@@davidstevenson9517 You are really determined to prove yourself a fool. I guess that's what goes with being a genuine fool. You ARE stupid and can't say anything that isn't demonstrably wrong and stupid. You are what you are and helpless to be anything but what you are. Embarrassing.

[@adrikrotten880]

@squirrelsinjacket1804 My only real concern about Starship's capabilities now is just the refueling stuff. There was a study/report from NASA saying they were concerned that fuel boil off would make the moon mission require as many as 10+ fueling operations. If that is the case for the moon, imagine Mars.... Too soon to say if that is a solved issue or not, though, and SpaceX and NASA are both currently confident in its capabilities.

[@rador3573]

I have never felt insane goosebumps since the Falcon Heavy Test

[@guitarmyheartsbeat]

The way it came back had me in awe it was so beautiful. A very beautiful view while sun was rising i will never forget this moment

[@wonton120]

One small step for SpaceX, a big step for human beings

[@progkarma944]

The most amazing thing I've ever seen! History in the making!

[@PinoAstro]

Awesome video! Perfect length hitting all the highlights! Great commentary! I'm impressed how quickly you were able to put together this video!

[@mustang607]

The block two version of Starship with its relocated flaps should help with the flap reentry burn through we saw on the latest two Starships.

[@ARWest-bp4yb]

Truly amazing, great job SpaceX!!🚀👍👍

[@lyricbread]

This was a major success! The forward flap burn-through shouldn’t be an issue going forward as the forward flaps on the block two ships have been moved leeward.

[@dadejazzba402]

Nice summary

[@foxmccloud7055]

Never in the history of mankind til today has a super heavy booster has been captured in mid-air.

[@bearlyrandom4462]

Have you ever noticed that the Romans never caught a super heavy booster

[@willoughbykrenzteinburg]

​@@bearlyrandom4462I don't think it was meant to be a knock on anyone. It was an appreciation of being alive to witness a meaningful first in the human race.

[@aussie_al]

@@bearlyrandom4462 Haven't you heard of the book " Chariots of the gods " 😀

[@davidstevenson9517]

Pity the Moon doesn't have a Mechazilla... save landing HLS Lunar Starship on that rough, uneven, lunar surface! Shame.

[@TheMoneypresident]

The natives said the booster was there when they moved in.

[@sycodeathman]

SpaceX is showing the world that robust reusable space launch technology is within our grasp!

[@1flash3571]

It is ALREADY HERE....What you talking about? Did you see Falcon 9 Booster come back often???

[@rador3573]

​@@1flash3571falcon 9 is partially reusable, even after landing they still need to refurbish the landed booster, Starship is going 100% fully reusable almost plane like turn around speed

[@Fogmeister]

@@1flash3571Falcon still isn’t fully reusable. We’re getting there. 😊

[@Nathan_Higgens]

@@1flash3571these are even more reusable. Falcon 9 is more like “refurbish-able” with some cleaning and touch ups. The fuel used makes it a little bit of a process to get the engine ready for its next flight. Starship and Superheavy use a much cleaner fuel and full flow combustion, which should, theoretically, lead to basically instead turn around for consecutive launches

[@SteveLomas-k6k]

McDonnell Douglas and NASA did it back in the 90s, I think there's a reason nobody else is really pursuing it anymore, it doesn't make much sense. By the time you add the extra needed fuel/ reduced payload, risk, and all the refurbishment needed before the next launch... you're better off just splashing down and building a new rocket. It's a bit like putting gullwing doors on a car, it looks cool but not very practical..

[@FerociousPancake888]

This man is the FASTEST video poster in the western hemisphere HOLY COW

[@1flash3571]

You could have watched the LIVE Posts....That is FASTER.

[@mattheide2775]

Just WOW. Job well done SpaceX.

[@Kyzyl_Tuva]

Fantastic summary! What an accomplishment. The SpaceX team makes me very hesitant to use the word “impossible •

[@i-love-space390]

Given the harsh environment of reentry, it seems like "rapid" reusability is going to take some time. I think that SpaceX engineers know this, from their experience with Falcon 9 and the Dragon Capsule, so they are working on rapid production instead. The ramp up on production speed is concurrent with their rapid design iteration cycle, so that when a final flightworthy production Starship is finished and fully tested and certified, they would be ready to mass produce it. Even if rapid reusability is not in place when SpaceX needs 5-6 Starship Tankers to launch in succession to fuel a lunar mission, they will simply have 6 or more NEW Starship / Super Heavy pairs ready to go. That is entirely doable. In fact, I expect SpaceX could conceivably have backups for every phase of the mission, if their production is at full speed by then. I just hope they have a whole lot of spare launch pads in case one of those catches bumps the tower. (Personally, I think that last maneuver was a little rapid for safety. Perhaps hovering and moving slowly over to the tower might be a safer approach?) At any rate, they can still reuse all of the hardware between missions, as long as they can be refurbished. And that refurbishment process will get quicker and quicker as the team learns what needs to be replaced or verified each time. And turnaround on the pad will get quicker and quicker, as has been the case in Florida.

[@Edino_Chattino]

I'm sure the full reusability phase will come some years down the road. But for now, as you said, they will have a room full of new ships and boosters ready to use.

[@plainText384]

Blue Origin's New Shepard is one of the only currently operational fully reusable rockets/spacecraft, and they have a very different operational model. They've just built their 5th vehicle overall, almost a decade after the first, are looking to operate a fleet of only 2 for the forseeable future, and they launch less than once a month with a turnaround time of about 2 months. I wonder if the demand for tens or hundreds of rapidly reusable Starships will really show up or if SpaceX will be left with a factory that can output way more Starships than are needed. Outside the ~10 launches needed to support one Artemis landing and SpaceX's own Starlink missions I wonder how much commercial demand will really manifest for SpaceX's Starship, given that Falcon Heavy is so oversized that it only launches around 2-5 times per year (NONE to LEO) and Starship will be competing with not only SpaceX's own Falcon family of rockets, but also a whole host of other rockets that are ramping up their launch frequency right about now (Vulcan Centaur, Ariane 6, New Glenn, etc.).

[@logicalfundy]

@@Edino_Chattino I can see the booster becoming reusable very soon. Probably not this one, but the next one might be reusable. The Starship - they need to figure out the heat tile situation, as it still did a bit of burn-through on this landing. Once they figure out how to return it to Earth with no burning through, I think they'll be able to catch it and it will be reusable.

[@shane1039]

The booster catch was insane... and on the first attempt. Holy shit.

[@kaasmeester5903]

I cried a little. This is what mankind is capable of.

[@xenswim1]

THe greatest achievement in my lifetime. The second was the first flights of the Concorde. Congratulations to the designers and engineers , people of vision who made history.

[@DominicDSouza]

Thank you for the great summary and commentary. Really well done! And congratulations to SpaceX!

[@stcredzero]

This summary was go well put together, I subscribed!

[@johnstewart579]

Congratulations to the 14,000 Space X employees and to Elon

[@mig4868]

We used to watch engines die and pieces fall off during liftoff. Now they have an entire flight proven booster sitting on the tower.

[@Nathan_Higgens]

Insane that 2 launches ago Superheavy couldn’t even complete the boost back, and now it’s been caught right out of the sky

[@rikkafe6050]

Amazing stuff! Thanks for the succinct summary much appreciated.

[@jeffjeff4477]

My mouth is still wide open in amazement I knew they'd do this but on the first attempt? Go SpaceX Go Starship!!

[@ThePlecoPal]

Such a crazy idea executed correctly first try, this is impressive even for spaceX

[@i-love-space390]

Damn! How close did the booster come to the tower before the catch???? And they want to make the chopsticks SMALLER?? Congrats to SpaceX on the catch. But I still think the margins are very slim on this being reliable 99 % of the time. And a misstep is a very expensive and time-consuming problem.

[@vauhner81]

From another angle, it's not that close. I know the everyday astronaut and cosmic perspective both had cameras at the other side. I wont lie though, i puckered a bit. Lol

[@Edino_Chattino]

look at Falcon 9 - they miss the mark by less than a meter. I'm pretty sure Super Heavy Booster will be the same.

[@rodneylee4026]

That's why they need a bunch of them.

[@vauhner81]

@@Edino_Chattino IFT4s booster soft landing was within 0.5cm from their target location. Insane accuracy.

[@saeedbehsa4018]

OMG that's marvelous.I can't believe it.That was stunning

[@sarkaranish]

Incredible launch

[@Jon-qu2jg]

Excellent recap!

[@garreth629]

In theory, this should make getting FAA licensing a lot easier as this test went pretty much perfectly from what we can see. About the only flaw was some slight burn through, but I'm not surprised by that. It's probably something that won't be fixed until version two of starship move flaps slightly closer to leeward side. What do you guys think, is flight six starship raptor relight test? I can't see them going for full orbit until after successful relight.

[@TheEvilmooseofdoom]

Yes. The less the deviate from the flight plan in their license the fewer issues they will have.

[@skypowergb3842]

I think someone is going to find for what to blame them , mainly impact on enviroment especially with water thing so i think there wil still be large delays . But starship still has long way to go. There is ton to improve and catching ship too . Then suff related to rapid reusability fter which it needs to prove itself as reliable rocket before putting humans on it

[@plainText384]

Quote: "The license does allow SpaceX to conduct at least one more launch, called Flight 6, using the same profile without obtaining another authorization from the FAA. 'The SpaceX Starship/Super Heavy Flight 5 license authorization also includes FAA approval of the Flight 6 mission profile,' the agency stated. 'The FAA determined the changes requested by SpaceX for Flight 6 are within the scope of what has been previously analyzed.' The agency didn’t state what those changes were." If SpaceX doesn't change their plans for flight 6 they will not require a new FAA license. However if they decide to change those plans (for example because IFT-5 went so well), then they'll need a new license. I believe Starship is also currently working under an experimental launch license, so if they want to fly commercial payloads (like Starlink) then they'd probably need to apply for a proper commercial FAA launch license as well.

[@ComeonmenID10T]

unfreaking real....... unfreaking real........ WOW.... Congratulation SpaceX, you Folks are making HISTORY

[@mustang607]

I wonder if we’re going to see any headlines, like… “Latest Starship blows up!” ?

[@futureatob6920]

I wonder if it was due to overheating or if it was deliberately

[@ballroomscott]

Someone out there somewhere is going to find some reason to report this as a failure. They always do. But we all know how amazing this really was!

[@davidstevenson9517]

It is a failure for NASA because Artemis 3 requires landing legs, you idiot SpaceX Fanboys.

[@Dumbo_Bat]

@@futureatob6920I believe the explosion was intentional since they couldn’t recover the payload

[@nathangoddard8115]

Most people are taught that anything other than perfection is a failure. Soace X understands that any outcome is an opportunity to learn and improve.

[@gerardocomas450]

Once again, congratulations to SpaceX on their success❣️

[@bllipps199]

Amazing catch

[@lexscarlet]

Really excited about what improvements they're going to make to the flaps next.

[@seantiz]

Historic moment.

[@Asterra2]

2:52 The booster did not hover. In fact it was never in the flight plan for it to hover. It came down at several km/h. The damping mechanism on the arms engaged too late and didn't help with the impact of the catch, which I expect SpaceX will try to sort out before IFT6.

[@robhaver8704]

maybe you are correct but i doubt that. i watched the landing as it happened and the catching arms did not flinch in a downward motion at all, meaning that the booster was at a standstil in mid air.

[@aussie_al]

@@robhaver8704 Even the pins lined up. And i can't even thread a needle

[@Asterra2]

@@robhaver8704 SpaceX themselves concluded their stream with a complete shot of the capture from the tower cam. That's what you'll be wanting to scrutinize-not the live shot where they switched to the tower cam after Booster has already stopped. There is zero room for doubt. It came down at a decent running click, the arms arrested that momentum completely, and then about a second later, the damping mechanism obligingly _resumed_ a brief downward motion.

[@tonamg53]

How would you engaged the damping mechanism? The damping is a passive system built into the arm.. it’s like your shock absorber on your car. Do you need to engage your shock absorber on your car’s too?

[@Asterra2]

@@tonamg53 They were intended to absorb the shock of the catch. What they instead did was respond to the weight of the vehicle _after_ it had come to a _complete_ halt. Almost as though they were temporarily stuck. You don't really get to handwave the footage we have of the event.

[@damitcam]

I still cant believe they actually did this on the first try

[@g3air3]

Just WOW!

[@whatthefunction9140]

Can we build a full sized eifel tower next to stage 0 so people understand the scale

[@creatrixZBD]

Thanks for this recap. Pretty exciting stuff, all the people that worked on it must be stoked. Much kudos to them

[@alexanderSydneyOz]

Meantime, how is that New Glenn going? Is it going?

[@harrybaulz666]

Share with all ur boing freinds 😳

[@wizzyno1566]

And yet here you are, boring us.

[@WWeronko]

Every month or so SpaceX does something amazing. Full flow stage combustion engines with record breaking chamber pressure and thrust to weight ratios was one thing. Then Raptor 3 was revealed. It looks like someone forgot to install most of the parts. Even ULA's Tory Bruno responded to the Raptor 3 photos by saying it's a “partially assembled” engine. When SpaceX said they would catch a 440,000 lb 233 foot booster rocket out of the air, most thought it was an engineering impossibility. I am done doubting what SpaceX can do and look forward to Starships on Mars.

[@kevikiru]

Today is a good day!

[@mrbaab5932]

SpaceX Winning 🥇

[@jwb2814]

History

[@rosshughes2534]

How quick ?

[@Hungary_0987]

Yes😊

[@FelonyVideos]

A MASSIVE success, but that small fire at the end is going to prove to be a bigger nuisance than most might expect.

[@thorin1045]

yep, the 'only' small fire part is funny, the only would be something irrelevant, not a fire for several minutes and not sure if the engine compartment did not burned too as it released continuously dark smoke while parts fall away. still better than what expected, but far from what most hype it.

[@Grayando1]

I will never doubt SpaceX again..... I cringed as I saw it coming towards the tower with so much lateral movement and my heart was pounding thinking its not going to stop... I literally screamed with joy when it came to rest in between and then just sat there with my mouth open in utter disbelief at what I just witnessed. We are on our way to the stars... Thank you the Entire SpaceX team and the community that follow this breath taking achievement. I feel truly humbled to witness such a historic moment in history. ,o7

[@johnbazaar8440]

What was the booster shedding when the engines relit for the landing burn? Also, what was burning on the side of the booster after engine relight?

[@f38293]

The flame on the side was a leak through super heavy's fueling port. Not sure if the debris was related.

[@1flash3571]

@@f38293 Someone said that they lost some part of the rocket, an attached part came off. Not sure when that happened. It is all part of testing things. Things fall apart, they fix it and fly it again. That method works very WELL.

[@aussie_al]

​@1flash3571 Yeah, i heard the same thing but then later i saw close up SpaceX footage and there were no missing bits that i could see. Everything was just a little scorched that's all

[@aussie_al]

@@1flash3571 I apologise, i just watched the Scott Manley video and he has slow. mow vision of bits coming off just before landing

[@Scaliad]

I had some confidence that if Elon and SpaceX said they could do it, they would...And that catch was still a marvel to behold! Go SpaceX! 🎉🎉🎉

[@skeelo69]

The impact it has on the Space Industry..... they have alot of catching up to do.

[@WyoSavage1976]

History happened!!!!

[@Xolivas1]

Not gonna lie, when SpaceX announced that they were going to catch the booster with the chopsticks all those years ago....I was like, "Nahhh, there's no way." Flight 5, they did it....ON THE FIRST TRY AND WITH PRECISION!! Congratulations to everyone at SpaceX and Starbase. Here's to the future of spaceflight. Onward twoards Flight 6 and beyond.

[@emonk042]

now to catch the starship!

[@renxiangwang3657]

SpaceX has learned the technique we Chinese use to pick up food with chopsticks.

[@ThePlecoPal]

Rare first try success

[@CocoaBeachLiving]

Nobody can say it's not possible anymore!! 😂😂😅😅

[@CRod840]

Glad it worked. Would’ve been a heck of a mess if it didn’t

[@Zzyzzyx]

Great video, thanks! It's just what I wanted on the day of this amazing event! 😃😲

[@creeperboytutorials]

That landing looks like an animation when you see it for the first time doesn’t it?!🥳

[@WyoSavage1976]

Not really.

[@creeperboytutorials]

@@WyoSavage1976 it did for me

[@creeperboytutorials]

@@WyoSavage1976 but I can see where you come from though

[@thepoppunx]

@@creeperboytutorialsyou know there are other people filming and watching the whole thing in realtime, dont you?...

[@creeperboytutorials]

@@thepoppunx yes just a bit delusional😅

[@jaydeister9305]

Wow! That was an amazing demonstration of technology and design philosophy! All the other LEO launch providers are automatically 25 years behind! Congratulations to Elon Musk, SpaceX for all the hard work and planning!

[@thorin1045]

considering half of the in development rockets planned to fly in this decades are similarly reusable, overestimated by two decades at least. and the economy part is still not proven.

[@Shivaho]

Absolutely Breathtaking 1st try at the Miyagi Maneuver 🗼🥢!😮

[@Nathan_Higgens]

Can’t wait to someday see a Superheavy booster get caught twice! I wonder what their reuse rates will be compared to Falcon9, which is at a record of 21 reuses I think

[@michaeldeierhoi4096]

One benefit that starship has over the Falcon 9 is that it burns methlox for fuel which burns cleaner than the RP1 kerosene loxkerosense that Falcon 9 burns. Kerosene leaves a lot of sooty deposits.

[@RovingPunster]

I was white knuckled for a moment when the base of the tilted booster nearly collided with the tower, just before the chopsticks grabbed it (after which it hung fully upright). QUESTION: What was up with the flames emerging from the tower side of the booster, about 1/5th way up from the bottom ? Was that a ruptured fuel line ?

[@greghelton4668]

I’d like to learn whether there was any damage. There seemed to a fire before the booster was caught. Amazing feat nonetheless.

[@apollo-r5z]

Maybe more energy could be extracted from the fuel by installing catalytic converter mesh immediately underneath the raptor engine bell.

[@jdmaine51084]

We're gonna start seeing a lot of mass make its way to space, a lot sooner than we may think...

[@svOcelot]

Excellent synopsis. Thank you. But there are a few unanswered questions: What was the violent glow in the engine-room area as the booster was descending? Was this just plasma, or was there a real fire in there? Also, what about that fire coming out of the side of the booster during the catch? That fire stayed lit for several minutes after the catch.

[@RechargeableLithium]

Look for Scott Manley's recap. The glow was atmospheric heating. I've not yet heard about the source of the fire, or the loss of sheet metal from one of the strakes.

[@davidstevenson9517]

Has Donald Trump tweeted his congratulations to Elon Musk yet? For Elon helping to make America great again? Trump🤝Musk as one!

[@marks7502]

doing the impossible

[@RayJacobsenJr]

"Massively Successful"

[@joostschure4190]

I wonder if the explosion of Starship was accidentally or was it done on purpose? In the broadcast they said that they did not intend to refly this ship and that it would be scrapped. So maybe they had mounted an explosive charge somewhere and blew the ship on purpose

[@wkjeeping9053]

Spacex just confirmed why they are the world's leader in space tech advancement with the booster catch. That will save millions for any launch. Public: your crazy to catch rockets Elon: hold my beer

[@RogerM88]

Was amazing. Spacex is aiming to catch also Starship. Wonder if some landings on a drone ship wouldn't be a better option for the next launches, to gather data. Which could be already carrying Starlink satellites.

[@Tampon_Tim]

How long before every country starts building their own towers?

[@wizzyno1566]

Err... Why?

[@Tampon_Tim]

@@wizzyno1566 Its called copying or stealing in some cases. Why do you think Elon fished those engines out of shallow water?

[@jakajakos]

Absolute insanity

[@davidstevenson9517]

So, the Upper Stage "Starship" still has not achieved orbit ...yet. The flight-test velocity peaked at 26,501kmph, 1,000 short of orbital speed; and flight-test altitude peaked at 152kms, 200kms short of the minimum altitude for sustained orbit. Even so, for Elon Musk and StarLink, this successful test has achieved a milestone in the pursuit of StarLink comsat deployment. Soon, the new StarLink reusable launcher, Starship, will begin clearing the "bottleneck" in StarLink deployment caused by the Falcons inability to deploy more than 20 comsats per launch. Starships "Starlink Dispenser", also undergoing testing, might be in action late 2025. Elon Musks StarLink Investors will be pleased; and the $3.5 billion Elon Musk conned out of NASA, thinly disguised to a naive US Congress as "HLS Lunar Starship Development Funds", helped achieve this success. Elon Musk is one Hell of a "snake-oil salesman". China will be pleased, too.

[@Fold-103]

Its not meant to go orbit for these tests....

[@Chromatic145]

Did his blue screen glitch out?

[@gridvid]

Are they trying to catch the ship as well?

[@adenwellsmith6908]

That fire at the bottom. Has it lost a panel?

[@kokomo9764]

Some of the ship video you showed was from flight 4!

[@mclark42]

Congrats to SpaceX engineers for the booster catch. Impressive, but Starship still can barely manage a suborbital flight with zero payload. And it'll land on Mars in 3 years?

[@TheEvilmooseofdoom]

Your understanding is a little flawed. The only thing it's not doing is circularizing it's orbit. It's not barely. There is zero payload because you don't put a payload on a throw away test article this early in development. No, Mars in 3 years is just another hopeful projection. THINK...

[@mclark42]

​@@TheEvilmooseofdoom The Saturn 5's FIRST flight orbited the earth and on its 5th flight it carried a crew to the moon. After 5 tries "Starship" can't even do the most basic thing that Yuri Gagarin did 60 years ago.

[@kevinhank17]

​@mclark42 why would they care about making the ship circle the earth once? What exactly does that achieve other than satisfying ignorant folk like yourself? All it would accomplish would be to make the test flight take longer to test what needs to be tested, no one needs to test if it can circle the earth, we already know how to make things do that. You thinking it's important tells us all how unimportant your thoughts are.

[@TheMagicJIZZ]

​@@mclark42spaceX doesn't have a Nazi chief engineer like Von Braun unfortunately lmao jk

[@ScienceCavas]

@@mclark42 Can people please stop comparing two completely different pieces of technology? Saturn V was NOT reusable, not a single part of it. This means that Starship's whole structure, tech and everything is completely different - and more advanced.

[@TesGon]

Insane. Is all I have to say.

[@chaser1956]

Congratulations on making history with this incredible test flight. It would be nice if next time or soon after they have an internal camera with one of the new X robots.

[@christopher4101]

I so wish Musk would start a drone company. We really need a USA drone company & Id bet he could produce quality products at a reasonable price.

[@fredbugden3511]

Ya , I'm sure building toys is high on his to do list.

[@christopher4101]

@fredbugden3511 You cant be that much of a doofus to classify sophisticated aircraft as "toys".? Nearly every government on Earth builds/uses drones for various reasons. Very useful in saving lives after the hurricanes too.. But, I do find it Ironic to be criticizing drones while every good camera shot of this launch came from drones... Lol, you're welcome👍🇺🇸.

[@larrysouthern5098]

WOW!! CONGRATULATIONS SPACEX... LIKE A BOOMERANG.. BOOMERANG 🪃.. LAUNCH..FLY.. CATCH BOOSTER.. NO PROBLEM... 🚀..... . 👀...are you kidding me??

[@ArmstrongandTumbler]

Someone explain to me, was the second stage expected to blow up upon taking in water? Anyone know what happened there?

[@wizzyno1566]

Yes it was. They were testing the heat shield.

[@swapshots4427]

Not blow up. Land and topple or sink.

[@veselekov]

Successful Launches SLS: 1 Starship: 0

[@hadleymanmusic]

Goona need an abatement lip on the belly along the flaper root so the plasma splays away from the hinge line and not into the hinge line.

[@RechargeableLithium]

They already have a V2 Ship with flaps moved leeward.

[@mikedonnellband]

One day, mankind will be colonizing Mars while people on Earth still say "Nothing can leave the firmament." Bahaha

[@TheEvilmooseofdoom]

Sadly I think you are 100% correct.

[@jaybird7534]

Should have played the piano diddy chopsticks!