New: Starship Returns Home After Record-Breaking Orbital Mission

STARBASE, Texas – SpaceX achieved a major milestone in its quest to develop a fully reusable rocket system when its Starship spacecraft successfully returned to the Texas launch tower from which it lifted off a day earlier.

The upper stage of the Starship rocket completed its longest orbital mission to date, spending more than 22 hours in space and circling Earth 14 times before making a controlled return to Starbase on Nov 14. The spacecraft had deployed 26 Starlink satellites while operating at an altitude of about 260km.

After completing its mission, Starship fired an engine to begin its descent and endured intense temperatures generated during atmospheric re-entry. Travelling at orbital speeds exceeding 27,000kmh, the vehicle slowed dramatically before entering a controlled free-fall over the Gulf Coast region of southern Texas.

Starship is back

In the final phase of the mission, Starship reignited three engines, flipped into a vertical position and guided itself toward the launch tower. Two giant mechanical arms, known as “chopsticks”, successfully captured the spacecraft as it hovered above the pad, marking the first recovery of the vehicle after an orbital flight.

The achievement came despite a setback earlier in the mission. The Super Heavy booster, which launched Starship into space, was unable to return to the launch site for recovery shortly after lift-off.

The successful capture of the rocket represents a significant step toward founder Elon Musk’s goal of creating a system capable of rapid, airline-like reusability. However, SpaceX still faces challenges, including recovering both rocket stages during a single mission and improving the durability of Starship’s heat-shield tiles for repeated flights.

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