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SpaceX catches upper stage of Starship rocket in historic first
The milestone advances SpaceX’s push for a fully reusable rocket and comes after the upper stage completed 14 orbits and 22 hours in space.
- On Saturday, SpaceX successfully caught its Starship upper stage with 'Mechazilla' mechanical arms at Starbase, Texas, marking the first-ever midair recovery of the spacecraft from orbit roughly 22 hours after Friday's launch.
- SpaceX launched the 407-foot Starship on its 15th test flight Friday, aiming to recover both stages; the Super Heavy booster failed during descent and exploded after a forced splashdown in the Gulf of Mexico.
- The upper stage completed 14 orbits and deployed 26 Starlink v3 satellites during its 22-hour mission. SpaceX reported the spacecraft's heat shield performed well, validating critical reusability data.
- SpaceX's Kate Tice reported the Super Heavy booster's engines stopped firing prematurely, causing the guidance system to initiate self-destruction over the Gulf. Engineers are investigating the root cause.
- NASA targets 2028 for Artemis IV lunar landings, utilizing Starship for surface transport and crew delivery. The successful upper-stage catch validates reusability technology critical to lunar and eventual Mars missions.
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It is a fundamental step towards Elon Musk's goal of developing a fully reusable launch system
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'Almost magic': SpaceX's Starship Flight 15 makes history
SpaceX on Friday launched the 15th flight test of its Starship rocket from Starbase in Texas and, on Saturday, successfully caught the upper stage of the launch vehicle.
·Oklahoma City, United States
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SpaceX first successfully captured Starship with mechanical manipulators from the Mechazilla launch tower in Texas. After 22 hours in space and 14 rotations around the Earth, the ship returned to the launch site.
·Kyiv, Ukraine
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Total News Sources240
Leaning Left56Leaning Right37Center73Last UpdatedBias Distribution44% Center
Bias Distribution
- 44% of the sources are Center
44% Center
L 34%
C 44%
R 22%
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