Achieving another first for humanity, SpaceX on Oct. 13 recovered intact the entire first stage of its massive Starship rocket at its original launchpad in Boca Chica, Texas. The accomplishment was immediately hailed immediately hailed by NASA’s Director Bill Nelson, who offered his congratulations, adding that “continued testing will prepare us for the bold missions that lie ahead—including to the South Pole region of the Moon and then on to Mars.” This is the fifth test flight of Starship, the biggest rocket in the world, and dozens more (test flights) are planned.
The first stage of the Starship rocket stands over 200 feet tall—the height of a 20-story building—the entire rocket stands just short of 400 feet tall, the tallest in the world. The Starship is equipped with 33 Raptor engines (made completely in the United States, by SpaceX), the most powerful rocket engines in existence. Sunday’s landing on Oct. 13 allowed both the recovery of the rocket body and its valuable engines. In addition to further reducing the cost of a launch—by eliminating the need for deployment of a sea-based landing pad—the development will also speed up the “recycle” time, allowing for quicker turnaround and re-use of the rocket (and additional savings).
To understand the accomplishment, one must realize that while a rocket is traveling “up” during its launch, it is also traveling “sideways,” to the east, taking advantage of the Earth’s eastward rotation to increase its relative velocity. This “heavy” lifting phase consumes the bulk of a rocket’s fuel and power, as the pull of gravity lessens as greater altitude is reached. From the dawn of the space age, the “spent” first stage was simply allowed to “drop” back to Earth, landing in the Atlantic Ocean (or, in the case of China or Russia, the Pacific, disappearing from humanity forever as it sunk to the bottom. The U.S. Air Force even has a program titled the Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle which has cost U.S. taxpayers billions over its 30 years.
