SpaceX recovers a rocket's main spacecraft for the first time in history

WASHINGTON.– SpaceX, Elon Musk's company, achieved for the first time in the history of space missions the recovery of the main spacecraft of the rocket system in the company's decade-long effort to develop a fully reusable rocket. The Starship spacecraft returned safely to the launch pad after a day in orbit. The spacecraft emerged from the clouds at the end of its descent, fitting precisely between the mechanical arms positioned above the launch pad. It is one of the greatest engineering achievements in the history of the space industry, in the company's effort to develop a fully reusable rocket. The imposing two-stage Super Heavy booster—the lower half of the rocket—carried Starship into space on Friday, from SpaceX's facilities in Starbase, Texas. That booster failed to return in similar fashion to the launch pad about ten minutes after liftoff, frustrating SpaceX's plan to recover both parts of the rocket for the first time. Starship after its reentry into Earth's atmosphere and on its way to the pad in Texas Eric Gay - AP However, the successful return of Starship's upper stage after orbiting Earth 14 times over more than 22 hours marked a key engineering milestone in the fast-paced, multibillion-dollar development of Starship, which billionaire Elon Musk considers the future workhorse of SpaceX's satellite business and of his ambitions to take humans to the Moon and, eventually, to Mars. After deploying 26 Starlink satellites into orbit on Friday night while flying at an altitude of 260 km, Starship fired one of its engines on Saturday to begin its descent into the atmosphere. It faced scorching heat as its speed slowed to a supersonic free fall in the skies over the Starbase facilities on the Gulf Coast of southern Texas. The spacecraft then relit three engines to rotate to a vertical position and head toward the launch tower, where two chopstick-like mechanical arms caught it as it hovered in the air. SpaceX's dominance in the global launch industry is built on its flagship rocket, the Falcon 9, which has carried out more than 700 launches since 2010. That rocket's first stage is reusable, but its second stage—the part that puts payloads into orbit—is discarded into the ocean after each flight. With Starship, Elon Musk seeks a rocket system capable of flying to space and returning in a manner and at a pace similar to those of commercial airliners. Outstanding challenges Although the recovery of Starship marks a key milestone, SpaceX has not yet managed to recover both stages of Starship in a single mission. And Starship's heat shield, made up of black hexagonal tiles that protect it from the scorching heat of atmospheric reentry, is also not yet fully reusable. SpaceX is trying to design new tiles that require little or no refurbishment after each mission. Starship minutes after launch on Friday, on its way to outer space Eric Gay - AP "Starship and its heat shield are in good condition," SpaceX said about seven hours after the mission began. "We have not detected any issues with the spacecraft or with the conditions required for return, so everything continues to evolve favorably," it added, anticipating the successful return that took place hours later. Since a loss of control of the spacecraft could be very dangerous, the company had planned various scenarios to shorten the flight and make the vehicle plunge into the Pacific if necessary. NASA's space shuttle system, which carried astronauts to the International Space Station before its retirement in 2011, was partially reusable; its booster stages, which lifted it off Earth, were discarded after each flight. The reusable spacecraft itself had to undergo an extensive overhaul before flying again. Agencies Reuters, AFP and ANSA