Starship Flight 5
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Starship V1 · Sunday, October 13, 2024 · ★ Landmark flight

Starship Flight 5

The first tower catch: Mechazilla's chopstick arms caught the returning Super Heavy booster.

Result
Success
Super Heavy
Caught
Starship
Splashdown
Duration
~1 hr 5 min

Photo: SpaceX

Flight replay

Watch Starship Flight 5

Video: SpaceX. Watch SpaceX's full webcast.

The flight

What Happened

The landmark flight of the program: for the first time, the Super Heavy booster flew back to the launch site and was caught in mid-air by the launch tower's 'chopstick' arms. Starship completed its planned reentry and a precise soft splashdown in the Indian Ocean.

Firsts

  • First-ever catch of an orbital-class booster by the launch tower

Flight path

STARBASEINDIAN OCEANCAUGHTSPLASHDOWN
The typical Starship flight plan. SpaceX publishes no minute-by-minute timeline for this flight.

Two stages

Booster and Ship

Super Heavy boosterCaught
Caught by the launch tower's chopstick arms (Pad 1)
Starship upper stageSplashdown
Controlled reentry and on-target soft splashdown

Objectives

  • Return the booster to the launch site
  • First tower catch attempt
  • Controlled Starship splashdown on target

Sources