Elon Musk unveils recovery plan for SpaceX’s Super Heavy booster that starts the engine with the launch tower
- Elon Musk revealed that the Starship Heavy booster would be picked up on his return
- Musk suggests using the launch tower arm used to stabilize the vehicle
- This would cut costs and immediately position the driver for another launch
- Musk also said that this method would allow him to take off again in less than an hour
Elon Musk is known for revealing ambitious plans and the latest suggests that the Super Heavy Startship booster will not land, but will be captured when he returns to Earth.
The SpaceX CEO shared on Twitter that the heavy reinforcer, which is still in development, will be recovered by the launch tower arm used to stabilize the vehicle during pre-takeoff preparations.
The proposed method would immediately reposition the booster on the launch pad, allowing it to take off again ‘in less than an hour’.
SpaceX is working on the Super Heavy rocket at its testing facility in Boca Chica, Texas, but is set to conduct more test flights of its starship prototypes that are without massive reinforcement.
The starship consists of two – the Super Heavy booster and the rocket that Musk designed to transport up to 100 people to Mars at the same time.
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Elon Musk is known for revealing ambitious plans and the latest suggests that the Super Heavy Booster from Startship will not land, but will be captured when he returns to Earth. The SpaceX CEO shared on Twitter that the heavy booster, which is still in development, will be retrieved by the launch tower arm used to stabilize the vehicle during pre-takeoff preparations
Now that SpaceX has launched three of the starship prototypes in the air, it looks like the company is starting to make plans for how the process will work when the booster is added.
Musk’s ambitious plan would be a way to cut costs and mass, eliminating the need for the booster to have legs to land.
However, if the CEO wants to achieve his goal by sending a million people to Mars by 2025, SpaceX will need to launch several starships in a single day.
When the turret arm picks up the booster, it is immediately put back in ‘ready’ mode, allowing it to take off again in less than an hour.
The proposed method would immediately reposition the booster in the launch assembly, allowing it to take off again ‘in less than an hour’
The starship consists of two – the Super Heavy booster and the rocket Musk designed to transport up to 100 people to Mars at once
The last starship to take a test flight, the Serial Number 8 (SN8) was considered the most successful launch – but it was also the most destructive.
The world tuned in on December 10 to watch the huge rocket take off from Boca Chica with the goal of reaching 41,000 feet in height – the highest “jump” of any starship.
The ascent of the spacecraft prototype took about six minutes before the engines shut down and the SN8 started its journey back to the launch pad.
The world sat on the edge of their seats as the rocket approached the ground – wondering if Musk’s prediction of a crash landing would prove correct.
When the starship finally landed, it caught fire – and once the fire and smoke had dissipated, all that was left was a pile of debris topped by what was left of the ship’s nose cone.
Musk shared his excitement at the Twitter launch, writing: ‘Successful climb, switch to header tanks and precise flap control for the landing point!’
‘The pressure of the fuel collection tank was low during the landing burn, making the touch speed high and RUD, but we got all the data we needed! Congratulations SpaceX team, hell, yes !! ‘
The starship consists of two – the Super Heavy booster and the rocket Musk designed to transport up to 100 people to Mars at once
The CEO later thanked South Texas for its support in a separate tweet, followed by another that said ‘Mars, here we go !!’
Last year alone, SpaceX completed two low-altitude flight tests with SN5 and SN6 and more than 16,000 seconds of run time during engine starts on the ground.
“In addition, with the acceleration of production and the increase in fidelity, SpaceX has built 10 prototype starships. SN9 is almost ready to move on to the pad, which now has two active supports for rapid development testing, ‘the company said.
Landing is one of the most important aspects – it needs to be completely reusable to reach the targets and the price per flight set by the SpaceX team.
There are several potential uses for the starship – including launching hundreds of satellites in orbit at the same time and landing astronauts on the Moon and Mars.