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SpaceX Starship launch Flight 5 blew everybody's mind, the launch Tower robotic arms caught a 70+ meter 250 metric ton Super Heavy booster in midair, then the Starship did a vertical landing in the Indian Ocean off the West Coast of Australia.
Spacex's Bill Gerstenmier, who retired as chief of NASA's human space flight program, says Starships landing accuracy is now 0.5 cm. Yeah, you read that right.
This is the second to last flight for Starship block 1, which is 120 m tall. Flight 7 should be block 2 and slightly taller. Block 3 will come in about a year or so and be almost 150 m tall.
Hence the nickname BFR, big f***ing rocket
NASA was exceedingly pleased, and Starship HLS is on track for a lunar landing test at the end of 2026. Humans soon after, assuming NASA's part can get its Act together.
Full launch video
Booster catch (4k, 60 FPS). The big plumes after 5 minutes are CO2 purging the engine compartment as a fire suppressant. In Block 3 of the vehicle an engine update will eliminate most of the need for this.
Starship water landing, video from a camera on a buoy
US news report
Space News
"Latest Starship flight prompts praise and worries at IAC
>
For NASA, the flight was a sign that development of the HLS version of Starship was on track for Artemis 3, which remains officially scheduled for no earlier than September 2026.
“Just yesterday, SpaceX has a very successful fifth launch as they develop this very large rocket,” NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said during an Oct. 14 plenary session that features the heads of several space agencies. “This was another one of the steps in the iteration of developing that.”
He added at a press conference the next day that work on the HLS version of Starship was on schedule. “I think you saw as a result of Sunday’s test of SpaceX and its big rocket that they are moving along very well, and that will determine ultimately the timing for the landing of Artemis 3 on the moon,” he said. “As of Sunday’s test, it was right on the mark.”
“They are right on making the benchmarks as they are planning to land in late ’26,” he said of SpaceX later in the briefing.
>
“Congratulations to SpaceX, what an incredible feat of engineering! Mars, here we come,” Rocket Factory Augsburg stated in a social media post Oct 14. “At the same time, the coin has a second side: it shows and confirms that Europe has completely lost touch. Can it still catch up? No chance. At least not the way things are going at the moment.”
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Spacex's Bill Gerstenmier, who retired as chief of NASA's human space flight program, says Starships landing accuracy is now 0.5 cm. Yeah, you read that right.
This is the second to last flight for Starship block 1, which is 120 m tall. Flight 7 should be block 2 and slightly taller. Block 3 will come in about a year or so and be almost 150 m tall.
Hence the nickname BFR, big f***ing rocket
NASA was exceedingly pleased, and Starship HLS is on track for a lunar landing test at the end of 2026. Humans soon after, assuming NASA's part can get its Act together.
Full launch video
Booster catch (4k, 60 FPS). The big plumes after 5 minutes are CO2 purging the engine compartment as a fire suppressant. In Block 3 of the vehicle an engine update will eliminate most of the need for this.
Starship water landing, video from a camera on a buoy
US news report
Space News
"Latest Starship flight prompts praise and worries at IAC
>
For NASA, the flight was a sign that development of the HLS version of Starship was on track for Artemis 3, which remains officially scheduled for no earlier than September 2026.
“Just yesterday, SpaceX has a very successful fifth launch as they develop this very large rocket,” NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said during an Oct. 14 plenary session that features the heads of several space agencies. “This was another one of the steps in the iteration of developing that.”
He added at a press conference the next day that work on the HLS version of Starship was on schedule. “I think you saw as a result of Sunday’s test of SpaceX and its big rocket that they are moving along very well, and that will determine ultimately the timing for the landing of Artemis 3 on the moon,” he said. “As of Sunday’s test, it was right on the mark.”
“They are right on making the benchmarks as they are planning to land in late ’26,” he said of SpaceX later in the briefing.
>
“Congratulations to SpaceX, what an incredible feat of engineering! Mars, here we come,” Rocket Factory Augsburg stated in a social media post Oct 14. “At the same time, the coin has a second side: it shows and confirms that Europe has completely lost touch. Can it still catch up? No chance. At least not the way things are going at the moment.”
>"