The company launched its Starship megarocket for the seventh time ever today (Jan. 16), sending the 403.5-foot-tall (123 meters) reusable vehicle aloft from its Starbase site in South Texas at 5:37 p.m. EST (2237 GMT; 4:37 p.m. local time).
One of the goals of this ambitious test flight was to catch Starship's giant first-stage booster, known as Super Heavy, back at Starbase's launch tower, using the structure's "chopstick" arms. SpaceX pulled this off for the first time on Starship Flight 5 in October — and did so again today.
The 33-engine booster nestled softly into the tower's arms about seven minutes after liftoff today, showcasing the time-saving recovery strategy that SpaceX intends to use for both Super Heavy and Ship, Starship's 171-foot-tall (52-meter-tall) upper stage.
But not everything went to plan today. SpaceX lost contact with Ship around 8.5 minutes into flight, apparently after the vehicle suffered some kind of anomaly.
Source: www.space.com
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