Successful Recovery of Large Rocket Using 'Jeotgarak Pal' Technique
Elon Musk's private space company SpaceX has successfully completed the fifth test flight of its large spacecraft Starship. The company also succeeded in recovering the large rocket using the newly attempted 'chopstick arms' equipment.
On the 13th (local time) at 7:25 a.m. (Central Time), SpaceX conducted the fifth test flight at the Starbase space launch facility on the southern coast of Boca Chica, Texas.
About three minutes after launch, the first-stage rocket booster, the Super Heavy rocket, separated smoothly from Starship. Approximately seven minutes after launch, the Super Heavy successfully returned from space to Earth and made a vertical landing for the first time. During this process, SpaceX attempted a new technology using the launch tower's 'chopstick arms' to catch the rocket, and it was immediately successful.
The chopstick arms, also called Mechazilla after the monster Godzilla from movies, extended from the launch pad to catch and stop the descending Super Heavy rocket, according to videos released by SpaceX.
Musk posted on the social networking service X (formerly Twitter), where he serves as CEO, that "Starship landed precisely at the target location" and "the second of two goals has been achieved." He emphasized, "A big step toward enabling humanity to live on multiple planets was taken today."
Musk has been developing Starship with the goal of pioneering Mars and enabling human migration there.
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